Hobby Thermo Halogen Terrarium Spotlight Eco - 28W

Hobby Thermo Halogen Terrarium Spotlight Eco is the general-purpose basking lamp in this range: heat, bright white light and some UV-A from one bulb. UV-A is the part people overlook - it is not the UV-B that makes vitamin D3, but it does drive normal activity, feeding and breeding behaviour.

Key Features

• Heat, Light And UV-A in a single E27 bulb.
• Raises Ambient Temperature as well as making a basking spot, so it warms the enclosure rather than only one patch.
• UV-A Encourages Natural Behaviour: more activity, better appetite. It does not replace a UV-B lamp.
• Four Wattages: 28W, 42W, 70W and 108W. Pick above.
• About 30% More Efficient than a plain bulb, per Hobby.

Using A Hot Lamp Safely

• Fit a guard. A basking lamp reaches a temperature that will burn an animal that climbs onto it, and reptiles do climb onto them. Hobby's Clamp Lamp Protector grids are listed separately and are not an optional extra in our view.
• Mount it so it cannot fall. Check the clamp or bracket every time you work in the enclosure. A lamp that drops into a terrarium is a fire as well as a burn.
• Run it on a thermostat, and measure what you get. Wattage is not temperature - the same bulb at 20cm and at 40cm gives completely different basking temperatures. Use a thermometer at the basking surface and adjust the distance.
• Leave a cool end. Heat one end of the enclosure only, so your animal can choose. A uniformly hot enclosure is the commonest husbandry mistake.
• Keep water off a hot bulb. Misting a lamp that is already up to temperature can shatter it. Switch off and let it cool first.

Good To Know

• Pick the wattage above. This gives UV-A, not UV-B - if your animal needs UV-B for vitamin D3, you need one of the UV lamps as well.
• UAE mains suits this. Hobby build to 230V 50Hz, which is what comes out of the wall here, so there is no voltage problem. The plug is the European two-pin type, so you will want an adapter or a UK plug fitted - and it is worth running tank and terrarium equipment through an RCD-protected socket.
• Wattage is not temperature. The same bulb at 20cm and at 40cm gives completely different basking temperatures. Buy a thermometer, measure at the basking surface, and set the distance to the reading.
• Run it on a thermostat, and on a timer for the day length your species needs.
• Fit a lamp guard. Hobby's Clamp Lamp Protector grids are listed separately.
• Keep a spare. A basking bulb always fails on a Friday night.