# Frogs & Toads > Toads >  What bulb for american toads?

## Poly

I am buying a "ZooMed Deep Dome" 8" Terrarium light fixture, and would like to know of a suitable COMPACT FLORECENT bulb for it? I wanted to use a ZooMed NatureSun bulb, but they don't make them in CFL's to fit the Deep Dome light fixture. I want a light that is like the NatureSun bulb, similar to sunlight, and one that promotes plant growth. Any recommendations?

Help will be appreciated!

Thanks,

~Royce

This is the fixture: Deep Dome Lamp Fixture

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## Badger

You could get a reptisun, They are CFL, and uvb lights. they come in different amounts of uvb, I have no clue what a toad would use though.

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## Poly

Yeah, I looked into the Reptisun bulbs, the "Reptisun 5.0" is supposed to be good for amphibians, but does not provide plant growth. Kinda stuck...

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## Poly

Ideas anyone?

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## Martin

I'm no expert what so ever, but frogs rarely (if never) need UVA and UVB even less. A 5.0 UVB light sounds really unneccesary and potentially dangerous to me. If you want a CFL bulb that provide plant growth and still is harmless to the frogs, I would use Exo-terra's UVA with the lowest percentage of UVA, which is the 2.0. However, a daylight CFL from Lowes or Home depot works as well both as a light source and to stimulate plant growth. What the plants really want is a broad spectrum of light and the right light-temperature, not necceaarly the UVA.

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## Wormwood

I'd have to agree with the unneccesary and dangerous outlook, go with something with the fewest UVA possible.

American toads are generally nocturnal anyway and don't need direct sunlight to remain healthy and happy.

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## Poly

> I'm no expert what so ever, but frogs rarely (if never) need UVA and UVB even less. A 5.0 UVB light sounds really unneccesary and potentially dangerous to me. If you want a CFL bulb that provide plant growth and still is harmless to the frogs, I would use Exo-terra's UVA with the lowest percentage of UVA, which is the 2.0. However, a daylight CFL from Lowes or Home depot works as well both as a light source and to stimulate plant growth. What the plants really want is a broad spectrum of light and the right light-temperature, not necceaarly the UVA.


"Reptisun 2.0" is now the "NatureSun Bulb" which only comes in a full size 18 to 24" florescent bulbs, no CFLs of that size (2.0). So I can pick up a regular CFL and it will work to stimulate the plant growth, without harming the toads...? What CFL would you use?

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## Martin

I'm not sure I understand you, but this is the Exo-terra CFL bulb I was talking about (which is the one I would use):
http://exo-terra.com/en/products/compact_fluorescent_bulbs.php
The 2.0 one, which is availble in 2 different wattages (but the UVA-procentage is still the same, which is 2%).

And yes, there have been tons of threads where experinced froggers (like John and DonLisk) recommend "normal" CFL bulbs from places like Home Depot or Lowes. You just have to make sure it's a "daylight" bulb. I don't have the numbers right now, but you want it to be within a certain temperature (color temperature, not how much heat it gives off) and have a certain light spectrum. If you do a quick search on lightning (for frogs and/or plants), I'm sure you can find a lot of information about this.
And according to the information page about the Deep Dome, it should fit a CFL bulb.

Hope this helps!

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## Martin

Here's one of the CFL bulbs that I was talking about (Stole it from John in a thread about lightning for White's):
Walmart.com: GE Energy Smart Spiral CFL Daylight Bulb, 20W, 2pk: Decor

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## Poly

> I'm not sure I understand you, but this is the Exo-terra CFL bulb I was talking about (which is the one I would use):
> http://exo-terra.com/en/products/compact_fluorescent_bulbs.php
> The 2.0 one, which is availble in 2 different wattages (but the UVA-procentage is still the same, which is 2%).
> 
> And yes, there have been tons of threads where experinced froggers (like John and DonLisk) recommend "normal" CFL bulbs from places like Home Depot or Lowes. You just have to make sure it's a "daylight" bulb. I don't have the numbers right now, but you want it to be within a certain temperature (color temperature, not how much heat it gives off) and have a certain light spectrum. If you do a quick search on lightning (for frogs and/or plants), I'm sure you can find a lot of information about this.
> And according to the information page about the Deep Dome, it should fit a CFL bulb.
> 
> Hope this helps!


Okay, well why my response didn't make sense is because...

I had planned on buying my lights from Zoo-med (for some reason...?), never even thought of Exo-Terra! Zoo-Med makes there 2.0 bulb in a full size fluorescent only, my hood only accepts CFLs, so I was at a loss, now (thanks to you!  :Biggrin: ) I see Exo-Terra makes their 2.0's in CFLs.

But now that you mentioned about the normal CFLs, I've got a question... 

What's the difference between the Walmart.com: GE Energy Smart Spiral CFL Daylight Bulb, 20W, 2pk: Decor and the Exo-Terra 2.0 (besides the price  :Stick Out Tongue: )?

Both bulbs seem to do the same thing... just a very different prices  :Biggrin: 

I REALLY appreciate all the help Martin! Wish I could add to your rep somehow, I'll have to ask John!  :Wink:

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## Martin

Ah, right, I totally missed that you said Zoomed. Misscommunication at its finest  :Wink: 

Now, I could be wrong, but from what I've understand, the difference is UV-lightning. The Exo-terra CLF bulb emitts a small amout of UVA (and no UVB). The walmart CFL bulb does not emitt UVA. However, the UVA is not really what's important for the plants, so the ordinary CFL bulb will work just as well (as long as it's the "daylight" one) (according to what other people have said, I've not used an ordinary one myself, just Exo-terra's).
Another aspect that raises the price alot is that the Exo-terra is a "special reptile product". Unfortunatly, this label make products expensive, even when it sometimes does not mean anything at all  :Frown:

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## Poly

Awesome, once again, thanks for the info! The walmart bulbs for a pack of 4 are 9.99$, ONE Exo-Terra bulb is... wait for it... 18.99 at my local per shop! Looks like my toads will have light after all!  :Biggrin:

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## Martin

19 USD aint so bad... Here they are 40 USD in the local petstore  :Wink: 
Just remember to use a timer, so you don't accidentally forget the lights on and you take away their precious night. 

You're welcome! That's why we all are here, sharing experince  :Smile:

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## Poly

> 19 USD aint so bad... Here they are 40 USD in the local petstore 
> Just remember to use a timer, so you don't accidentally forget the lights on and you take away their precious night. 
> 
> You're welcome! That's why we all are here, sharing experince


Haha, wow! That's expensive!

I'm glad to get all my info from this site, if I relied on my local pet shop (like many in my town) my toads would be dead a long time ago.

The guy cut me off when I was explaining to him my problem finding a bulb, and said, "I've got the bulb fo you! This can be used for everything, it's the best!" He recommended that I use the Zoo-Med PowerSun 160Watt *Reptile basking lamp* for my two toads... then he said "ohh, but you wouldn't want to see the price of it" I said "yeeah, okay..." lol

This is the lamp he recommended me for toads: PowerSun

Oh, and he also told me that if I run out of food, I can feed me toads carrots and lettuce... 

Once again, really glad to get my info here guys!  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Martin

160W PowerSun is great... If you want to cook the toads!  :Wink: 

Good thing you are smart enough to realize he had no idea what he was talking about.

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## Poly

> 160W PowerSun is great... If you want to cook the toads!


Darn it!  :Stick Out Tongue:  I was going to say that, well rather, type that, until I forgot... such a great analogy: 160W PowerSun bulb = Baked Toads (for lunch maybe?)

Haha!  :Smile:

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## Lady medusa

I know this was posted a lil while ago but i figure ill add .02. Have you ever thought of using LED lights? Lots of them dont produce UV light but are in a good spectrum for plants. They make small LED light set ups that are by marineland and i use them over my mantella tank and my philodendron and pothos is doing well. Also look into aquariums plant lights that are in the red spectrum. Believe it or not walmart has some normal florescent plant lights in their light section. They make some that are in 24" fixtures and 18" fixtures. The 18" fixtures you can attach to eachother to add more light. I have a 24" plant bulb with a 150 watt basking bulb on my 75 gallon. My plants in there are doing great. If you dont have a walmart in canada then checkout a hardware store or contact a plant nursery on where you can get certain plant bulbs.  Next you may want to decide what type of plants you want. Do you want high light, medium light, or low light plants? And research what those plants needs are and if they are compatable with your toad.

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## Poly

> I know this was posted a lil while ago but i figure ill add .02. Have you ever thought of using LED lights? Lots of them dont produce UV light but are in a good spectrum for plants. They make small LED light set ups that are by marineland and i use them over my mantella tank and my philodendron and pothos is doing well. Also look into aquariums plant lights that are in the red spectrum. Believe it or not walmart has some normal florescent plant lights in their light section. They make some that are in 24" fixtures and 18" fixtures. The 18" fixtures you can attach to eachother to add more light. I have a 24" plant bulb with a 150 watt basking bulb on my 75 gallon. My plants in there are doing great. If you dont have a walmart in canada then checkout a hardware store or contact a plant nursery on where you can get certain plant bulbs. Next you may want to decide what type of plants you want. Do you want high light, medium light, or low light plants? And research what those plants needs are and if they are compatable with your toad.


Thanks for the info.  :Smile:  Most plants are compatable with toads, the only ones that arn't are conifer shubs.

Hahahahahaha! You don't think Canada has Wal-Mart? We do...  :Glee: 

I'm now using the bulbs Martin told me about, and they work great, not to mention, I saved a good 40$.  :Stick Out Tongue:

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