Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am starting "construction" today for a 7'high by 6' x 3' cage made up of primarily plywood (Actually I want to duplicate this cage: http://www.greenigsociety.org/cageplans.htm) . As far as the UV lighting goes can I use a regular fixture (4 foot with 2 bulbs) from something like home depot? I was looking at something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0449272770.1142262061@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdgaddhffhhligcgelceffdfgidglo.0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc/searchResults.jsp&MID=9876&N=2984+4233&pos=n12

Is there any special fixutes we must use for the special bulbs? I see these:

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Product/Top_Rated_Mounting_Fixtures_104100.html

at big apple herp but I want a four foot and I dont see anything bigger than 24"

Thanks again

PS I know I also have to add heat lamps, I have that under control, four 10" Domes outta do it with a head pad on the floor if necessary.

I would buy from Home Depot. The higher quality ballast you get the better your output will be. Also add aluminum foil (shiny side out) to the reflector wings. This will relect the UVB from the other side of the bulb back down to the iguana. This should be placed 6-8" from the skin of the iguana. Reptisun 5 or 10 made by ZooMed has been found to be the most reliable with the least decay. Replace every 6 months. I buy all my ceramic dome fixtures from Lowe's or HomeDepot.
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Marie
Baby, Dragon, VLS-Huff, Miss Kitty

You can use a two light fluorescent fixture for your bulbs.
Buy 2 48" bulbs to go in like Reptisun 5.0 or Iguana light.

My cage is set up this way. I have it attached directly
to the roof of the cage inside. One good thing about this
placement is that the fixture itself produces heat in an
enclosed habitat raising the ambient temp.

Here is a picture that shows the fixture. We built this cage. The basking bulb is placed on top through a cutout in the roof that is screened. That way there is no chance of getting burned.

Hope this helps
Linda

I haven't read what other people replied to you but since I had a lot of problems dealing with enclosures much bigger than yours I thought that I ought to suggest you a couple of things..
Regarding to light you must no how irritating is to watch your iggy trying to climb on those flourecences and bulb fixtures,also flourecences emit the required uv for maximum distance of 1.5' so I think the best solution would be to put a 100w powersun uv by zoo med above the enclosure and light through a circle covered with wire that you can cut on plywood using a jigsaw.
Regarding heating I strongly believe the best and most economical solution would be to place a small heater of about 1kw to the bottom corner of your enclosure inside a small cage that you can make.These things contain a reliable thermostat that can keep a constant temp of 30C.The bad thing with this is that you cannot have a heat gradient unless you proggram a small computer to turn it on and off which you might not want to deal with right now.Although if I were you I would go for this heating method..
If you need anything else please ask..