Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was looking at alot of different vission cages around.....I was going to get one with circles left at the top for heat lmaps......I was going to use heat lamps for ambient heat but then i tohguht how much it would kill thge humidity? IS there any cage supplier out there you know for cheap vision cages? Also how do you sucesfully get the ambient temsp you need ?
thanks
Mike

You're right, heat lamps do kill humidity. Visions don't hold humidity well in general, but they can be fixed to do the job. On the visions I've used I covered the vents with cardboard and heated the cage with flexwatt heat tape from below and put the water bowl around the warm spot. This works okay, but harder to maintain in a larger cage. If you use a substrate like cypress mulch and spray it down, you can keep the humidity up, also.

But, I got tired of doing all that with the visions, so I sold mine and got Animal Plastics cages and life is easy, now. My temps and humidity stay perfect with the built in belly heat and a small water bowl with newspaper as substrate. Cages are priced well, too. Shipping is a bit high, but WELL worth every penny!
AP Cages

Although humidity is a key component of proper burm husbandry, moderate to high humidity in conjunction with stagnant air is a nice recipe for disaster. Covering vents can lead to poor air quality. Although I don't necessarily love my visions, I do use them and haven't had any problems with keeping the humidity at adequate levels (which is not easy in the temperate Chicago climate with our very dry winters). Misting systems certainly make this chore very easy and worry free. Good air flow, moderate to high humidity, and warm temperatures are critical to long term health of burms.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>You're right, heat lamps do kill humidity. Visions don't hold humidity well in general, but they can be fixed to do the job. On the visions I've used I covered the vents with cardboard and heated the cage with flexwatt heat tape from below and put the water bowl around the warm spot. This works okay, but harder to maintain in a larger cage. If you use a substrate like cypress mulch and spray it down, you can keep the humidity up, also.
>>
>>But, I got tired of doing all that with the visions, so I sold mine and got Animal Plastics cages and life is easy, now. My temps and humidity stay perfect with the built in belly heat and a small water bowl with newspaper as substrate. Cages are priced well, too. Shipping is a bit high, but WELL worth every penny!
>>AP Cages
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL