well judging by what exo terra's website says on the matter, yes they do need a special fixture but i didn't use the one they suggested. i don't know how much i shortened the life of that bulb by putting it into the one of the fixtures at work, since we didn't really have the ability to do differently. it has been running for three months with no known problems, to answer your question.thats a better idea. but still on the old track do they need a special fixture or does the standard exoterra hood work?