Sorry if this has been brought up but is it essential to have a flood lamp instead of a spot lamp. I have a 35 inch by 24 inch which is around 3 ft by 2 ft?
Also zoo med, t rex or mega ray? and is it ok to use a zoo med clamp lamp 8.5inch.
cheers

I thought we'd already covered this, several times!

A flood is better than a spot, a spot has a concentrated beam that illuminates a very small area and creates a very intense hotspot, a flood illuminates a wider area and creates a less intense hotspot.

Any of those bulbs will be fine, take your pick!

The clamp lamp should be fine too, as long as the bulb doesn't exceed the stated wattage (which I think is 150W?). But you may want to check that the bulb isn't physically too big for the lampshade, if it sticks out of the shade then it isn't protecting the bulb properly, at nearly 50 quid a pop I like my bulbs to be fully protected from damage in a large dome style lampshade!

Can't agree with this Graham - for a three foot table provided ambient temps are good, a spot would be better IMHO and experience.
A spot enables the tort to bask on a hot spot and then get away to cooler areas. In the wild they spend more time in the shade than in the sun so it would follow that a fully floodlit enclosure is going to be stressful and less conducive to their natural environment. I've tried both over several years and the spot comes out tops every time in small enclosures which most pet owners have.

__________________
Take care
Sue

wizzasmum@aol.com

graham this was my point it wasnt fully cleared up and i want the best enviroment for my little torts!

Is it a matter of opinion or is there a definate right and wrong

I should probably have added that the bulb should be an appropriate wattage for the size of table, a 100W flood doesn't actually produce that much heat, and at a height of 15" (typical) with the bulb hung at one end of the table the far end of a 3' would be quite cool. A 60W would be even safer still, although personally I think that would be going too far the other way.

My experience with true spotlamps is that they are too intense.

In the light (unintended pun, but I'll leave it in!) of your comments and experience though maybe the 100W Mega-Ray or the T-Rex Flood would be a good compromise, as they are both "narrow flood" lamps rather than true floodlamps like the Powersun.

So long as they leave a fair sized cool area then they should be OK but when I have used them they produce too broad a beam of light for torts and they tend to spend a lot of time hiding away. I've not tried the megarays yet.

__________________
Take care
Sue

wizzasmum@aol.com

ok thank you everyone