# Clamp lamps on top of plywood piece, fire hazard?



## casey15 (Aug 3, 2012)

Would clamp lamps with a 50 watt halogen flood light bulb set on top of a piece of plywood, burn through it/be fire hazard? I'm putting a piece of plywood over the 55 gallon tank I have instead of the screen top. 

I know the needed adult cage size, but this is a temporary cage for a 3 inch long baby. The temp of light would be around 130, can the wood handle it?


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## aambumann (Aug 3, 2012)

casey15 said:


> Would clamp lamps with a 50 watt halogen flood light bulb set on top of a piece of plywood, burn through it/be fire hazard? I'm putting a piece of plywood over the 55 gallon tank I have instead of the screen top.
> 
> I know the needed adult cage size, but this is a temporary cage for a 3 inch long baby. The temp of light would be around 130, can the wood handle it?



Wood and heat always makes me nervous. I always try to think of the "what if" factor. You could try cutting a hole in the plywood quite a bit bigger than the light and covering the hole with some type of wire mesh, like small chicken wire for the light to set on. This would allow the heat to cool before it reached the edges of the plywood, and supply some ventilation. I am using a screen top on a 20 gal. for my Tegu hatchling with a clamp light, and I cover 1/2 of it with 4 mil. poly-film( plastic ), making sure the plastic does not come in contact with the light, to keep the humidity up. My 18 inch uvb light and fixture are mounted to the inside of the screen lid so when the lid is on the uvb is inside the cage, I just use small nuts and bolts through the holes in the screen mesh of the lid to mount it to the underside of the lid.The basking light sits on top of the screen lid with 4 small screws screwed into the screen mesh to hold it in place. If you need to you can use screen clips or flat rock to secure the lid.Hope this helps a little.


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## Dana C (Aug 3, 2012)

I use a plywood top 8' cage for one of my boys. I cut square openings a little larger than the lamp. I used 1/2" welded wire to cover one and used an inside frame made from 2x4's to drop the lamp inside the cage to create a basking area. None come in contact with wood and the hoods focus heat and light down.
The openings like I said are just a little larger than the lights themselves so not a lot of humidity escapes and I mist regularly.

Also, Tegus don't need rain forest like humidity.


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## tommyboy (Aug 3, 2012)

casey15 said:


> Would clamp lamps with a 50 watt halogen flood light bulb set on top of a piece of plywood, burn through it/be fire hazard? I'm putting a piece of plywood over the 55 gallon tank I have instead of the screen top.
> 
> I know the needed adult cage size, but this is a temporary cage for a 3 inch long baby. The temp of light would be around 130, can the wood handle it?



I agree with the members responses above. Take every precaution to be sure the lamps are not in contact with the wood.
Also, I would love to see some pics of this 3 inch tegu!!


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## bonedoc (Aug 4, 2012)

Please do make sure that the lights do not come in contact with the wood or that they cannot get dislodged and put that hot light in contact with the bedding. Accidents can and do happen and can have very tragic circumstances. We have experienced this. Not worth the potential loss, please make sure you design your enclosure to allow for proper positioning and mounting of heating and lighting so as to avoid any possible fire hazard. And if there is a flaw in your design or part of it that needs to be adjusted, don't use it till you work it out.


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