Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys! So Im just about to finish my girlfriends enclosure for her bearded dragon. Its made of 3/4" Oak plywood and measures in at 41"(L)x16(W)x21(H). Ive thought of everything BUT lighting. At first we thought we'd just cut out a portion of the top and put a dome over that but it would look too cluttered. SO, now I need to figure out a way to install something on the inside. Its sufficiently tall so things shouldn't be THAT cramped.

What I was thinking was going to home depot and getting either a 24" or a 36" fluorescent fixture. Im leaning towards the 24". Now I know they are like $10-15. Will that kind of strip and ballast power a 10.0 UV bulb or no? Also, does anybody know if the strip comes with some kind of on/off switch or something of that sort. She'd need to turn it off at night of course.

And for the heating side, I wanted either a CHE or a Halogen bulb for day and a red bulb for night. All I would need to do is take the actual ceramic socket from her existing dome and just luckily find some kind of housing for it at home depot and just screw it in to the top of the cage.

Any opinions?

I use MVB (Mecury Vapor Bulbs) in my Bearded Enclosures, with no other lighting. I vent the cool side and utilize a retes stack, thin boards staked with 2x2's as spacers.

I mount the bulbs with a standard metal junction box and a porcelain housing, no shroud, diurnal lizards will not attempt to touch a bulb if their proper temps are maintained. Same goes for most animals.

With the bulb directly over the retes stack and utilizing thin paneling (refuse from basement remodel) you get a varied basking spot. The top directly below the bulb will average between 120° and 125° while progressivly down the stacks you will see temps drop by 5-10 degree's.

At the same time the cooling will bring the day time cool side temps down to abou 80°.

I don't cycle my dragon's I just let nature do that for me, my Reptile room (what's left) stays cooler in the winter than in the summer.

Remember the ole' sayin' "to grow better dragon's you just feedum and heatum"

Good Luck
Jeremy