Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all! New to the forum, looks like a lot of good info!

I have three stacked 3ft vision cages housing juvenile geyri, acinthinura, and aegypticus. My problem is that whenever I need to change a bulb, I have to unstack them (a cumbersome task since I use a play sand substrate). Anyone find a good way around this? I was going to buy a couple of bigger Visions at the Daytona show to move the geryi and the aci into (the egyptian's got a 6' custom all ready for him), but I could imagine the extra sand would only increase the difficulty of bulb changing. Also, has anyone used the Showcase cages Mr. Dix suggests? Thanks for the help!

I have 4' stacked vision cages and after having to change
the basking lamps I modified things a little for easier lamp
maintenance.

I drilled out the pop rivets which hold the grill onto the
bottom of the basking lamp shroud. I removed that circular
grill totally and whenever I now need to change out a basking
lamp it is easily done through the bottom shroud opening.

No more shifting those heavy sand substrate cages around to
get to the lamps from above. If you don't pile a basking site
too high under the shroud the lizards will not be able to reach
it or the lamp.

I was actually going to use the grills but actually attach them
from the bottom side of the shroud opening by using a hinge
on one side and a winged nut machine screw on the opposite
side so that I would simply undo the wing nut and let the grill
drop down for lamp maintenance but haven't found the time.

I think this would be a great suggestion to the Vision Cage
Co so they can begin to produce/modify the riveted grill
with one which can be easily opened downward by undoing
a wing nut or small latch of some type on the opposite side.

Another advantage to not using the grill at all is that the
basking lamps I use in these cages which I've modified are
now less wattage. Hence, energy saving not to mention that
the UVB/A discharged as well as equal heat (from a smaller
lamp) is no longer filtered by the grill so it's a win win
situation.

John

Try Animal Plastics cages, I've heard good things about them, and they are super-friendly on the phone and very willing to customize to your specifications. That's what I was planning on getting until I figured out that what I wanted would cost almost $300 in shipping, but we're in Washington State and they said that was one of the most expensive shipping areas for them (not sure why). Wish I was closer and I could just pick them up myself LOL!

Andi

I am using cages from Dragons4U. They wire a fluorescent and incandecent socket in the inside of the cage. The vent holes are too small and you may need to drill them out larger and add more to accomodate the high heat needed for uros. However, they are stackable and you can get to the bulbs without unstacking.

I have about 30 showcase cages all stacked 4 high or 3 high depending on height. They are great tanks. Now to change the bulbs on the spots, you need to get behind the tanks but, you don't need to unstack them. Also what I have done for general lighting is to put a fluorescent lighting fixture mounted to the ceiling inside each tank so I can just reach in and change that too. Hope this helps.