I'm looking to upgrade my current tube and spotlamp setup for my Herman to a Mercury Vapour, and have read some good things about the Arcadia D3 lamp and was wondering if anybody could recommend it or otherwise.  Also of what wattage  I should use.

Many thanks

Rusty 

Hi Rusty,

We use the Megaray here, purchased through Inka Products. There were a lot of problems with the Megaray lamp last year....actually I can remember most brands having the odd bad run. The new lamp they released this year is very reliable and definitely does the job. Very reasonably priced too.

HTH
Darren

Thanks Darren. I was looking at the Megaray, but as you say there's been some quite negative comments posted on forums i've seen. But if the problems been resolved I might well go for it, would you suggest 160W.

Rusty

Hi Rusty,
It really depends what you're using it for, how many tortoises, how big they are and the enclosure size?

They were absolutely appalling last year:-(. Poor Darren and Jo at Inka products didn't know which way to turn:-(
Much better this year though:-)

Cheers
Darren

Hi darren, the tortoise table dimensions are approx 4"x 2" although theres a possibility I might upgrade that along with the lighting, and houses one juvenile(7yrs) herman at the moment.

I emailed inka products earlier today with the same details and am waiting for a reply.

But if you could help it would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Rusty

Hi Rusty,

As far as I'm aware there aren't set guidelines.
100w will be fine for a 4 x 2, bearing in mind you only have the one young tortoise in there. To be honest I tend to use the more powerful lamps for larger tortoises so they can warm up more quickly. Even with my 8ft table, that I keep our hatchlings, in I prefer to use two 100w rather than a 160w as two cover a larger area and each provides suitable temperatures for basking.

HTH
Darren