My vet had written on his web site that “if you want your pet reptile to stay healthy and happy, then you need to emulate its natural environment and diet as much as possible.”
It was in that spirit that I bought my first EcoZone Vivarium controller for my bearded dragon.
I will be the first to tell you that these controllers aren’t for everyone. They are pricey and I think most pet owners here use MVBs for their tegus, but I’ve been very pleased with my unit.
First a quick overview of the product. The EcoZone is a variable output power controller. It has 4 outlets which can be set and programmed to various functions (light, heater, mister, etc). It also has 4 inputs for probes.
The unit I have for my beardie is set with the first outlet programmed for the dusk/dawn light. I have my fluorescent light fixture plugged into that. Now here’s the really cool part about the controller. My fluorescent fixture is dimmable, so at my time set for “lights on”, instead of blasting on at full force, they come on at 10% strength. Then gradually ramp up to full strength after 45 minutes. The ramp up time and even the maximum strength percentage are programmable. The unit is programmable by month, so you can emulate a more natural light cycle for your pet. I base the day length roughly on the sun up and sunset calendar. In June and July the fluorescents are at 100% where as December and January they max out at 80%.
My second outlet is programmed with his basking light. Like the dusk/dawn light, you can adjust the on and off times, and the ramp up. With the “heater” setting, you need to associate the outlet with one of the temp probes. So I have a temp probe sitting right on his basking spot and keep it at 110 degrees. I let it dip to a max of 105 in the winter months. Again, the outlets can all have different settings for each month. I keep the night time “low” setting at 65 degrees, so it never comes on during the evening.
The third outlet is also set as a “heater” and tied to my CHE. A second probe on the cool end dictates this heat source. Again, the usual ramp up and time of day settings.
My fourth outlet for the beardie is set to lunar mode. I have a 15w moon light bulb for this one. This mode is kind of cool because it cycles the lunar light from a set low to a set high on a 28 day cycle in synch with the moon’s phases.
When I first got the EcoZone, I had one of the standard Zilla Power Center strips to control the day and night cycles. Siggy (my beardie) was in a 40 gallon tank. The first thing I noticed when switching him over was that appears that the sudden “lights out” kind of interferes with the beardie’s instinct to find some place to nest down for the night. For the first time ever, my beardie went into his hide when the lights dropped down to around 30% and scratched around walking in a circle like a dog dos trying to find a comfy spot.
I also noticed that previous to his being set up with the EcoZone, Siggy generally woke up with mild stress marks. After getting the unit, he was pretty stress free in the mornings. It’s been really nice not having to adjust lamp positions anymore to try to regulate the temps, too.
I’ve dealt with the designer and owner of the company (a little family affair) and he’s a really nice guy. Great customer service. I ordered a second unit for the viv I’m building for my tegu with the humidity and temp probes so I can tie it in with a misting system.
At any rate, I wanted to give his product a plug, because I’ve really been pleased with it.
You can check out the web site at ecozonevivarium.com
It was in that spirit that I bought my first EcoZone Vivarium controller for my bearded dragon.
I will be the first to tell you that these controllers aren’t for everyone. They are pricey and I think most pet owners here use MVBs for their tegus, but I’ve been very pleased with my unit.
First a quick overview of the product. The EcoZone is a variable output power controller. It has 4 outlets which can be set and programmed to various functions (light, heater, mister, etc). It also has 4 inputs for probes.
The unit I have for my beardie is set with the first outlet programmed for the dusk/dawn light. I have my fluorescent light fixture plugged into that. Now here’s the really cool part about the controller. My fluorescent fixture is dimmable, so at my time set for “lights on”, instead of blasting on at full force, they come on at 10% strength. Then gradually ramp up to full strength after 45 minutes. The ramp up time and even the maximum strength percentage are programmable. The unit is programmable by month, so you can emulate a more natural light cycle for your pet. I base the day length roughly on the sun up and sunset calendar. In June and July the fluorescents are at 100% where as December and January they max out at 80%.
My second outlet is programmed with his basking light. Like the dusk/dawn light, you can adjust the on and off times, and the ramp up. With the “heater” setting, you need to associate the outlet with one of the temp probes. So I have a temp probe sitting right on his basking spot and keep it at 110 degrees. I let it dip to a max of 105 in the winter months. Again, the outlets can all have different settings for each month. I keep the night time “low” setting at 65 degrees, so it never comes on during the evening.
The third outlet is also set as a “heater” and tied to my CHE. A second probe on the cool end dictates this heat source. Again, the usual ramp up and time of day settings.
My fourth outlet for the beardie is set to lunar mode. I have a 15w moon light bulb for this one. This mode is kind of cool because it cycles the lunar light from a set low to a set high on a 28 day cycle in synch with the moon’s phases.
When I first got the EcoZone, I had one of the standard Zilla Power Center strips to control the day and night cycles. Siggy (my beardie) was in a 40 gallon tank. The first thing I noticed when switching him over was that appears that the sudden “lights out” kind of interferes with the beardie’s instinct to find some place to nest down for the night. For the first time ever, my beardie went into his hide when the lights dropped down to around 30% and scratched around walking in a circle like a dog dos trying to find a comfy spot.
I also noticed that previous to his being set up with the EcoZone, Siggy generally woke up with mild stress marks. After getting the unit, he was pretty stress free in the mornings. It’s been really nice not having to adjust lamp positions anymore to try to regulate the temps, too.
I’ve dealt with the designer and owner of the company (a little family affair) and he’s a really nice guy. Great customer service. I ordered a second unit for the viv I’m building for my tegu with the humidity and temp probes so I can tie it in with a misting system.
At any rate, I wanted to give his product a plug, because I’ve really been pleased with it.
You can check out the web site at ecozonevivarium.com
