Humidity and lighting… how do they coexist?

[Tiigu]

I built my tegu a nice birch enclosure. I had regular zoomed domes fixed to the ceiling out of reach. One dome has a CHE and the other had a PowerSun 80w. I use a fogger on a timer to add humidity in the early mornings. Enclosure’s morning humidity is 75-80% and by evening it’s 45-50%. My problem is the humidity is shorting out the dome lights. My powersun went out after a month of use, so for a temp heat fix I put in a regular floodlight rated for the fixture… I actually had the light spark, explode, and the socket caught fire. I’m trying to figure out what I can do to give my lizard the lighting she needs without burning down my house. I keep seeing YouTubers with zilla lights and fluker domes in the enclosures, but both of those have humidity/water warnings on the boxes. Trying to figure this out. People at Home Depot were no help. They said nothing they sell is reptile safe.

 

[Skippymaxwell4]

Well i must say you're going above and beyond with your tegu... Mine has a zilla heating light and a long vitamin D light on the way.... My tegu has been happy! As for humidity, im certainly no expert as mine doesn't get too much of that. If anything, just mist the bedding daily if that. I'm considering getting something that mists by itself daily, if that even exists... But seriously, it's never seemed like a big issue.

 

[AnimalNerd]

I built my tegu a nice birch enclosure. I had regular zoomed domes fixed to the ceiling out of reach. One dome has a CHE and the other had a PowerSun 80w. I use a fogger on a timer to add humidity in the early mornings. Enclosure’s morning humidity is 75-80% and by evening it’s 45-50%. My problem is the humidity is shorting out the dome lights. My powersun went out after a month of use, so for a temp heat fix I put in a regular floodlight rated for the fixture… I actually had the light spark, explode, and the socket caught fire. I’m trying to figure out what I can do to give my lizard the lighting she needs without burning down my house. I keep seeing YouTubers with zilla lights and fluker domes in the enclosures, but both of those have humidity/water warnings on the boxes. Trying to figure this out. People at Home Depot were no help. They said nothing they sell is reptile safe.

I've been curious about foggers vs misters tbh because ever since I got 24" uvbs on zilla dimmers it dries out the enclosure like crazy. My set up is a bit odd due it being a diy enclosure that isn't my own (I plan to replace it). It was built super tall so I added a 'dropped cieling' on it that consists of a wooden frame with hardware cloth suspended with chains and eyelet screws. My 24" dimmer uvbs rest on this frame and on the 'hot' side I have my 250 watt basker hanging lower as well as an extra uvb bulb at the ideal basking distance until I can get a platform built and everything can be safely placed on the cieling and out of my tegus reach. I have my mist king on the cool/humid side secured below the cieling and running the tubing through a hole in the hardware cloth. This way (at least by my logic) any wiring and bulbs are safely above the water system. I think with a fogger that mist drifts upwards so that might not be a fool proof method with a fogger. Tldr: keeping wiring and bulbs above the water system or too far away on the hot side to be affected.