Lighting Questions

[Aidan Morrison]

Hello everybody, I'm going to be ordering/buying an Exo Terra glass enclosure that's 36" X 18" X 18" for my hatchling Paraguayan Red tegu I'll be getting in a couple weeks. Yes, I realize he will outgrow that tank very fast, but I'm also ordering it because I might be also getting a baby bearded dragon when he out grows it, and then the bearded dragon will live in the Exo Terra. I will build my tegu a 8' X 4' X 4' enclosure once he outgrows the Exo Terra. Anyways, I have decided to use a UVB strip light because it spreads out the UVB more than a compact UVB bulb; and don't compact UVB bulbs burn reptile's eye's? I hear that the Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Bulb is one of the best, if not THE best UVB strip bulb on the market. I have a few questions about it though. Is there such thing as a reptile (tegu) getting too much UVB? Does the Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Bulb emit any heat? Also, since I'll be using an Exo Terra what size/watt bulb should I use? I'm not really sure that the 36" bulb would be good because that would stretch the ENTIRE length of the enclosure, but then again; I don't know if that's good or bad. I'll put the sizes down below:

15 Watt, T-8, 18"

17 Watt, T-8, 24"

25 Watt, T-8, 36"

I'm not really sure what the "T-8" means in all of those, so if someone could explain that that would be great as well. Is it ok to put the fixture with the Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Bulb in it on top of the Exo Terra lid since it says that "10% UVB penetrates an impressive 20" into terrarium?" If anyone has any better ideas on the UVB lighting that I should use I would be more than happy to here them. Thanks and please respond ASAP if you know the answers so I can order the supplies.