Hobby Diamond Halogen Terrarium Spot Lamp - 28W

Hobby Diamond Halogen Terrarium Spot Lamp is a halogen basking spot with a deliberately narrow 12-degree beam. That is the whole point of it: instead of warming the enclosure generally, it puts a small, hot patch of heat and light on one spot, which is exactly what a basking reptile wants.

Key Features

• Narrow 12-Degree Beam: a tight, hot basking patch rather than diffuse warmth. It creates the strong thermal gradient reptiles thermoregulate against.
• Three Wattages: 28W, 50W and 75W. Pick above.
• E27 Fitting, so it goes straight into a Hobby clamp lamp or any ceramic E27 holder.
• Halogen Efficiency: more light and heat per watt than a plain incandescent.

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. In a UAE room that is already warm, start lower than a European care sheet suggests - you can always move the lamp closer.
• 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.