Reptile & Amphibian Forums

would you mind helping me with a few things about my cage that i will build?

First off, the Arcadia Compact D3 Reptile lamp, is it good for basking, because > which direction does it give off the most light... straight out like an ordinary bulb? What kind of fixture is needed to support/work that bulb (watts)? Will two of those bulbs (mulitple basking for 2x uro) be enough light for a 4'x3' tank?

(ruanko & roxy's cage)... heres a few questions to start
1- did you glue or screw in all of the pieces of wood?
2- can you possibly get pictures of how the lights are suspended?
3- what type of wood is used in your terrarium? is it treated at all? im just curious of how wood can withstand an 80-130* difference without warping easily...
and lastly
4- for the windows, you made grooves and slid them in? did you use glue at all (if so what type of glue works to glue acrylic to wood?)

I didn't build the cage, but looked it over very thoroughly before buying. None of those questions should be very difficult to answer based on looking closely at the specified areas. I will shoot pics tonight after "lights out" and post them tomorrow at around 3:30am (that's my coffee/PC time before work). I know that the wood shouldn't warp as the 120F areas are focused on the substrate and not the walls. Even so, why would the wood (chuck wood, ) warp? If there's no moisture on the wood? I'm a metal guy, so it is an honest question..."if I can't weld it, it must be wood!"

As far as treating the wood, it wasn't when I got it. I took a liberal amount of vegetable oil and applied it to the outside just to give it a bit less of that "natural" plywood look.

Again, I hope that helps and look for pictures tomorrow morning...afternoon at the latest.

-Jim
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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII (my care sheets)

3:30 in the morning? that is insane. 90% of the time i am going to bed between 2-3:30 am. do you have any noctural lizards that can hang out with you at that time
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

well yea i kinda needed the lamp question about which direction it shines the most answered before i can explain my thoughts on why the wood would (chuck ) warp... i just thought that if i had a 4'x3' piece of wood, and on one side it was around 80* and near the lamp it was closer to 120*, it would be bad. i am neither a wood/metal/plastic nor building kinda guy lol so thats why these questions are here thanks for teh help jimbo

I never have tried the lamp you're referring to. If I was to make an educated guess, Id say that if it is shaped like normal bulb, with no backing from the base toward the top, then I'd say it's going to give off heat in an omni-directional(?) way, like a normal bulb. If it has some kind of backing like the Zoo Med spots, then I'd say it would be more directional. As far as the mechanism that "runs" it, that would depend on it's wattage output. The metal domes with the porclean(sp) fixtures are very durable. Some are good for up to 150wts and some up to 250wts. Runako and Roxy's cage, has what looks like "universal" wall fixtures that accept light bulbs, and they're scewed to the ceiling of the cage. I have one 150 wt and one 100 wt Zoo Med spots in there and both partially shine on the walls. I just went in and put the back of my hand against the wall where it's shining, and it's hardly warm.

As far as the size of the cage with respect to the number/wattage of lights you have, I usually just hang/hold the lights temporarily in different places and take temp readings looking for the proper gradients. What I'm trying to say, is there are to many variables to say yes or no to any specific tank (unless it was obviously too small). 4'x3' can be big enough but not if it's set up incorrectly. When I put Rocky's cage together, I spend a lot of time trying different light locations and taking multiple temp readings. With R&R's, it was just a matter of making sure that the two "seperate" living areas were available with a cool area.

Hope that helps unitl the pics come

-Jim
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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII (my care sheets)

>>would you mind helping me with a few things about my cage that i will build?

First off, the Arcadia Compact D3 Reptile lamp, is it good for basking, because > which direction does it give off the most light... straight out like an ordinary bulb? What kind of fixture is needed to support/work that bulb (watts)? Will two of those bulbs (mulitple basking for 2x uro) be enough light for a 4'x3' tank? I would say there should be enough room. Mine has two and is a 4'x2'. The closer to the surface the bulb is, the more confined the basking area is. The upsides are that better allows for a gradient and don't need such a high wattage buld to obtain the heat.

(ruanko & roxy's cage)... heres a few questions to start.
1- did you glue or screw in all of the pieces of wood?
It looks like the pieces are nailed together by thinner nails. There are putty(?) plugs where the builder filled in the holes after sinking in the nails.

2- can you possibly get pictures of how the lights are suspended? Here are the pictures. First is the leftlight then the right. The power cord is attached by screws which are located under the cone shaped half that unscrews to expose the inside. The whole thing is porclean so there isn't any problems with the heat from the lights. The cord feeds through a small hole at the top rear of the cage. The following is a view from the top of the strip UVB light. I just screwed that on from the inside. The large opening in the top of the cage, I added to allow for more ventilation, which also creates better temp gradient as the cage can't trap all the heat in.


Went over that on the other post. Plywood with the outside corners semi-rounded to give it a bit of a finished look.

4- for the windows, you made grooves and slid them in? did you use glue at all (if so what type of glue works to glue acrylic to wood?) The door (below) appears to have had the windows inplace during the build. I don't see anything to indicate the windows can be easily removed with ruining the door. On Rocky's cage, the door has a reccessed area that the plexiglass sits in (use glass, not plexiglass) and is held in place by 6 or 8 wooden tabs that you can loosen and swing away for easy removal.
The side screens were placed in place and thin strips of wood were stapled over the edges to hold in place.
Here's Runako and Roxy relaxing in the "sun".

Rocky trying to run up the plexiglass hoping to find a mealworm



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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII (my care sheets)

I don't know why after previewing the post and then re-editting it, it throws in the quotes and takes out the remaining original post...

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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII (my care sheets)

erm, think ya could send me the pics via email please? hulkness101@hotmail.com
h u l k n e s s 1 0 1 @ h o t m a i l . c o m

forgot to say thanks by the way, so um, thanks, lol