Your light/heat set-up!

[OEFVet]

Hey everyone!

After a couple week delay, my enclosure (7x3x3) will finally be here on Saturday!

I posted a couple weeks ago about my possible set up that I was going to go with, but I am curious as to what everyone else has to include the watts. I am currently using a powersun 100W (might upgrade to the 160W with new enclosure) a fluorescent tube, and a ceramic heat emitter (150W). This temporary set up is not ideal by any means.

Before I go and drop hundreds of dollars on bulbs, fixtures, and other stuff for the enclosure, I'd like to eliminate the trial and error process of what works and doesn't as much as possible For example, with the powersun 100W and the CHE 150W, the hot side is only at 105 degrees. So one of those would need to be upgraded to get the "ideal" temperature for a tegu.

There is a lot of people out there against CHE's due to their dangerous heat levels. I haven't had problems with mine in that sense, but am considering moving away from them just to be safe. I have looked into heat panels to be mounted on the ceiling to provide a ambient heat. I have looked into Ultratherm Undertank Heaters from http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads but don't believe these would work due to being on a wood bottom not glass. Flexwatt heat tape I don't think would work for the same reason?

For the fluorescent light, I plan on buying a 4ft single fixture. Does it have to be reptile specific or can I save some money and buy one from a hardware store. Does it have to have a reflector?

Any and all advice is welcome! I hope to see your guy's set ups with wattage! Links would be great as well if there are bulbs from lowes or home depot that work better than these pricey "pet" ones! For example, maybe certain flood lights? "Pet" lights seem to be in some cases, tripled compared to regular and they do the same thing.

Looking forward to replies from everyone! Especially Walter, JRock, Dee-Dee, and all the others that have helped me out these last 2 months!

Thanks,
Robert

 

[snibborsirk]

Robert, Here's my lighting setup (looking down on the enclosure of course) and a pic of my enclosure to help visualize. I set my enclosure up prob a little different than most, having the basking areas in the middle and then cool areas on both sides. My enclosure holds heat pretty well, so the 125w heat bulb from home depot works perfect for 105-110 degrees (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-125-Watt-Incandescent-BR40-Heat-Clear-Light-Bulb-416750/202768516). I had a 150w that got a little warmer but my tegus didn't like it quite that hot and never basked there at that temp. I have a second basking spot that stays around 90-95 degrees using a ZooMed 100w day spot bulb you can get at most pet stores and online. They move back and forth between the two basking areas. I positioned my two 24" reptisun t5 hoods/blubs where the tegus tend to hang out most of the time to maximize their exposure but also to leave some slightly darker areas on the cool ends. I have the one 75w black/night bulb just for a warmer night time spot in case they want it (http://www.homedepot.com/p/75-Watt-Incandescent-A19-Black-Light-Bulb-415323/202857017) - can get these at home depot for under $4 and they don't put out much light at all. My house usually stays between 70-72 degrees year round. My enclosure is approx 90" long by 42" deep by 40" tall but my lights are all sitting inside of the cage on a heavy duty screen layer approx 10" from the top of the cage.

 

[OEFVet]

Thank you Snibb! That helps out so much!

Does the screen layer its on take away from the UV your tegu receives? I have read that such mesh's only allow certain amounts of UV thru them? I've considered a screen layer but keep ruling it out due to that possiblity.

You have a nice set up! I can not wait for mine to finally get here haha!

Thank you for taking the time to include the wattages and links! That makes a huge difference and I'm sure will help others new to tegus out as well

 

[Walter1]

Resting on metal grid aquarium top lie a 150 watt All Living Things light with its included fixture and dimming switch. With basking ramp, the tegus can get within 12" of it. A 100 watt red light is nearby. The aquarium is 6' long. Hide is on the other end. Water dish in the middle. Used only for brief period in spring and fall to assist them in seasonal transition of waking up and going to sleep. Beyond that, they're outside.


You know, I grow high-light orchids indoors and use what had been state of the art sodium and metal hay life lighting. 1000 watts.

Now people are using a skinny type of fluorescent bulb for horticulture that I think has Uv B and A both. Inexpensive and could do the trick for UV.

If so, I wonder if heat could simply be two 100 watt red lights.

First and foremost, I defer to those with set-ups like yours.

 

[viejo]

Would like more info on the skinny (T5?) bulb.

 

[Walter1]

I think that's it- the T5.

 

[snibborsirk]

No prob - glad to help. We used 1/2" hardware cloth from Home Depot for the screen top so there is minimum interference of the UVB output. Im sure it cuts down the UVB some but the 1/2" openings allow a ton of light through compared to your average terrarium screens. If you get the high output t5 hood/light, definitely get them online or at a show. Pet stores charge a fortune for them. Personally, I prefer the t5 UVB with cheap heat bulb setup over using the mercury vapor bulbs. I've had bad luck with the Mercury vapor bulbs not lasting very long.

 

[OEFVet]

Would any T5 fixture work or should it be the reptile one? And about bulds, any 6500k HO bulb or the reptisun 10.0?

 

[thatoneguy]

My setup is pretty basic, I run a reptispa 160 MVB on one end with a ceramic heater for night. And a 4 ft flourescent uvb highest power one in could get across the top.

My only warning is of your tegu is like mine he will jump and climb on everything. In order for the flourescent UVB tube lights to be effective they have to be pretty close to the reptile, which give them plenty of opportunity to climb on top of it depending on how your cage is setup.

Unfortunately for me my flourescent uvb light was more of an after thought and not part of my initial cage design.

He is a jerk

 

[thatoneguy]

Also you can get pretty cheap UVB test cards that change color to indicate the amount of UVB hits it, not super accurate bit gives you a good idea of how much UV is actually making it to the reptile

 

[Walter1]

This is very very useful info for successful tegu care.

 

[snibborsirk]

Would any T5 fixture work or should it be the reptile one? And about bulds, any 6500k HO bulb or the reptisun 10.0?

I would def lean towards a reptile specific t5 fixture since they are set up for maximum reflection - and they are designed to sit flat on the top of your enclosure. Standard 6500k HO bulbs DO NOT emit UVB. Reptisun 10.0 t5 bulbs or Arcadia (they have 10% & 12% UVB t5 bulbs) will work great. The Arcadia bulbs and fixtures can be found here: http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/.

Also, on the screen top subject, your standard terrarium screen tops will cut the UVB output by approx 50%. The larger spacing of the galvanized hardware cloth used for a screen only cuts the UVB by approx 10% according to a couple of articles I read. I've always preferred having the hardware cloth as a layer between my reptiles and the bulbs to help protect the bulbs from being broken or jarred loose, especially by an active tegu! Also keeps them from accidentally getting burned by touching a heat bulb.

 

[snibborsirk]

I would def lean towards a reptile specific t5 fixture since they are set up for maximum reflection - and they are designed to sit flat on the top of your enclosure. Standard 6500k HO bulbs DO NOT emit UVB. Reptisun 10.0 t5 bulbs or Arcadia (they have 10% & 12% UVB t5 bulbs) will work great. The Arcadia bulbs and fixtures can be found here: http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/.

Also, on the screen top subject, your standard terrarium screen tops will cut the UVB output by approx 50%. The larger spacing of the galvanized hardware cloth used for a screen only cuts the UVB by approx 10% according to a couple of articles I read. I've always preferred having the hardware cloth as a layer between my reptiles and the bulbs to help protect the bulbs from being broken or jarred loose, especially by an active tegu! Also keeps them from accidentally getting burned by touching a heat bulb.

Sorry - quick correction...Arcadia has 6% and 12% uvb t5 bulbs. 10% uvb is only available in your standard t8 bulb.

 

[OEFVet]

Would you be willing to share a photo of the cloth with the hole Snibb? Thank you for the link.

Thatoneguy, I'd hate to have a CHE and have mine be like yours! Huge no no haha. During free-roam time, mine likes to pretend he's Superman and is horrible at judging distances. Sometimes it worries me. Are your temps just fine with only the 160w MVB? Your enclosures quite open from the one pic.

 

[snibborsirk]

All I have at the moment is this pic. I can take a better one later once I'm home if you like. You can kinda see the screen top - it's the same as the side vent. The term cloth is misleading - it's actually galvanized flexible steel mesh. http://m.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-2-in-x-4-ft-x-25-ft-Hardware-Cloth-308226HD/204331883

 

[OEFVet]

With the link, that works perfect! How many vents do you have? I'm thinking of doing 3. One on each side and one on top. Thanks for the link!

 

[snibborsirk]

I have 4 total. One on each side of the enclosure itself. One on the back left and one on the back right of the detachable top that hides the lights.

 

[CameronJayBauer]

I'm in the process of building a 6x3x2.5 and I'll be fastening porcelain light fixtures directly into the roof of the enclosure. I plan on putting all the bulb fixtures on the left (basking) side. 2 fixtures for day heat bulbs, one 2' UVB t5 tube, and another fixture for a night heat bulb. So far I have two 150w zoo med basking spot lamps (as well as a rheostat to adjust them), a Exo terra repti glo 5% UVB tube light, and a zilla 150w night heat bulb.

I was going to set them up like this, any inputs or comments on the setup or positioning?

 

[DreamsOfTegus]

You can get the housing from home depot too- it's a lot less than the reptile labelled ones. Then get the t-5 bulb for the UVB. That's what I did, I was able to get the ballast housing for like 35- it's a 4 footer.

 

[CameronJayBauer]

You can get the housing from home depot too- it's a lot less than the reptile labelled ones. Then get the t-5 bulb for the UVB. That's what I did, I was able to get the ballast housing for like 35- it's a 4 footer.

I found fluorescent light fixtures at Walmart for SUPER cheap. Like $9 for a 2ft fixture.
Only thing is it's a 17w fixture when the bulb is 20w. But really 3watts over, when 20w is already so low to begin with, it doesn't seem like it's much of a risk at all