Heat lamp

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A heat lamp is an incandescent light in a fixture with a hood or shroud that is used for the sole purpose of creating heat, usually for the purposes of animal husbandry. Lights used for poultry are often called brooding lamps. Aside from young birds, other types of animals which can benefit from heat lamps include reptiles, amphibians, insects, arachnids, and the young of some mammals.

The fixture of a heat lamp is usually ceramic, as plastic fixtures can melt. The shroud or hood is generally metal. There may be a wire guard over the front of the shroud, to prevent an animal from touching the bulb.

Heat bulbs may be ordinary household white incandescent bulbs, but red and blue bulbs are sold for use in brood lamps and reptile lamps. Some of these are ordinary in shape, while others are flattened across the front and coated to focus the heat from the light forward rather than heating the shroud.