Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know how much clearance I should allow for lights, specifically mercury vapor ones? I have allowed 8inches in my cage design, but I am beginning to worry that the lights and foxtures will not fit in that space. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help,

Elizabeth
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1.0 Uro Archimedes
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

>>Does anyone know how much clearance I should allow for lights, specifically mercury vapor ones? I have allowed 8inches in my cage design, but I am beginning to worry that the lights and foxtures will not fit in that space. Any ideas?
>>
>>Thanks for the help,
>>
>>Elizabeth

By clearance if you mean how much room around the bulb to allow for heat to dissapate if mounted internally in a cage, then they are no different than any other incandescent bulb of the same wattage. I am currently running a 160 watt powersun bulb and it actually generates less heat than my 90 watt halogen flood. They generally only need a few inches of clearance as long as there is sufficient ventilation to allow trapped heat to escape.

If you mean how much clearance between the bulb face and your Uro, then that will vary by bulb wattage and type of bulb (flood or spot) and uvb output. The new megarays put out an incredible amount of uvb and they recommend a minimum distance of 12 inches. it is probably more like 6 inches for more normal MVB bulbs.

If you are serious about using MVB bulbs and want to get the most out of them it is a great idea to get a UVB meter to test how much UVB it is putting out. There is a Yahoo groub dedicated to UVB meters and testing of bulbs.

BTW I saw you got together with the cage building expert Chris Harper over in the cage forums. He has tons of good info and ideas on cage construction. If you do attempt to undertake that build take lots of pictures so we can check it out and if you end up with a lot of good step by step pictures I would be willing to host them on my site if you don't have a good place to put them up.

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Mike
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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net

Mike,

Yes, Chris has been invaluable today! I have actually decided to stick with the lighting and heating types I am currently using, instead of the mercury vapor lights.

My currently problem is figuring out how to make sure the cage is strong enough! Since I use sand as a substrate (best choice for MY Uro, I have tried them all) it has to hold a lot of weight. Once I get that figured out I think * am going to try it... it should be amusing. lol.

How has your Uro beein doing with the dog box and slate floors? Does he spend a lot of time on the slate? I am curious because that would definitely make cage clean up easier, but I worry that the Uros would get bored.

Thanks for your help, I will make sure to keep everyone posted.

Elizabeth
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1.0 Uro Archimedes
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

>>Mike,
>>
>>Yes, Chris has been invaluable today! I have actually decided to stick with the lighting and heating types I am currently using, instead of the mercury vapor lights.
>>
>>My currently problem is figuring out how to make sure the cage is strong enough! Since I use sand as a substrate (best choice for MY Uro, I have tried them all) it has to hold a lot of weight. Once I get that figured out I think * am going to try it... it should be amusing. lol.
>>
>>How has your Uro beein doing with the dog box and slate floors? Does he spend a lot of time on the slate? I am curious because that would definitely make cage clean up easier, but I worry that the Uros would get bored.
>>
>>Thanks for your help, I will make sure to keep everyone posted.
>>
>>Elizabeth

Elizabeth,

I saw your design on the other forum and yes that thing does look like it would hold an impressive amount of sand

The only thing I can think off of the top of my head as an easy cheap way to reinforce the floors is to do it like they do in building houses... run beams under the floor to stiffen it and to transfer the load out and down to the sides of the structure. You could glue and screw 1x1 or 1x2 battens all along the floor spaced 4-6 inches on center to stiffen the floor. That would rob you of 1-2 inches of vertical space but you could probably stand on that floor. The other thing would be to use plywood as the floor structure instead of melamine as I have noticed that particle type boards have a tendancy to sag under load after a year or two. I built a bridging unit between two bookshelves to fit around my TV and after a couple of years it has a noticable sag in the center. Then again that could just be my bad design.

You could also glue laminate a floor together out of several thinner bits of 1/4 inch plywood and 1/4 inch high density foam. Say a 5 layer design with ply-foam-ply-foam-ply all bonded together with construction adhesive. That should be very rigid and have the added benefit of being a good insulator.

Ryu is doing great in his new enclosure and loves the ceramic and slate tiles. He will come out in the morning and flatten himself out on the ceramic right in front of his hide and suck up some heat before moving on. The slate has been great for cleanups, in fact this morning I found a secret stash of little hard Uro pellets under a piece of cork bark where he has be going in private. Just a quick sweep up and a wipe with a damp paper towel and it was as good as new.

I have made a few changes to the furnishings and removed the digging box as he was not the least bit interested in it. I have replaced it with a humid hide box with a piece of vinyl hose attached as a tunnel.

Not to start another great substrate debate but I am coming to the conlusion that substrate choice is not that big of an issue for me. It seems to me that as long as it is non toxic and will not impact a healthy well hydrated Uro if ingested in small quantities then it really does not matter. I think that heating, lighting, nutrition, and good hide spots play the biggest roles in the health and welfare of a Uro and that substrate choice is at the very bottom of a long list of things that are more important.

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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net