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Hello remember me?

I had to put my beardies cage on pause for a lil bit as I didnt have the money just yet for the glass. I will be getting the glass on monday, so its about time I finish the electrical stuff.

My question is, I got a metal ceiling mount box thingie that you told me to get, they didnt have a round one but um.. How do I do it? Do i just mount it on the ceiling or do I have to somehow cut a hole in the wood for it?

Im guessing (hoping really) I just screw the box to the ceiling and then attach the ceramic lamp holder to it with the screws but.. I'm not sure?

Also, for juice, just cut one end of any ol' extention cord correct? Thats what I did for the flood lights.

Just to freshen your memory, this is for a 100 watt CHE

thanks so much

PS
how important is it to cover the CHE with wire if its at the top and lets say I dont put anything up high for him to touch it? Wouldn't the wire get as hot or almost as hot?

>>My question is, I got a metal ceiling mount box thingie that you told me to get, they didnt have a round one but um.. How do I do it? Do i just mount it on the ceiling or do I have to somehow cut a hole in the wood for it?

Just screw it right to the ceiling. I use 3/4" sheet-metal screws just because they seem to hold so well and because I ended up with a huge box of them many years back.

But use the right length screw for the thickness of the top of your cage.

>>Im guessing (hoping really) I just screw the box to the ceiling and then attach the ceramic lamp holder to it with the screws but.. I'm not sure?

The screws that come with the galvanized box hold the fixture. The screw heads fit through the large holes on the fixture and then your twist the fixture so the screw heads are over the more narrow slots.

>>Also, for juice, just cut one end of any ol' extention cord correct? Thats what I did for the flood lights.

This is what I do.

>>how important is it to cover the CHE with wire if its at the top and lets say I dont put anything up high for him to touch it?

With my first bearded dragon cage I did not cover the CHE. But this is a choice I'll leave up to you. I hate to say "don't worry about it" and have either you or your dragon receive a serious burn.

The wire actually won't get as hot. Still hot, though.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Chris you are the best

Thank you so much for your help. When its finally finished, I will post a pic for ya to see

~me

You know, I never used a metal junction box in any of my cages. Even the cages I have bought did not have junction boxes.

I just take the ceramix fixture and screw it directly to the top of the cage (after I drill a hole fot he wire to come out). When attaching the wires, I will put some liquid electrical tape or even silicone around them, and then after the fixture is in place, I put silicone around that also to make sure no water gets under the fixture when I spray the cage down.

I guess a junction box cant hurt though. Unless its a smaller cage (in height) then its just going to push the bulb closer to the floor of the cage.

Just wondering if I am the only wacko that installs the light fixtures without junction boxes, lol .
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

You're probably not the only one. What are these cages made out of?

The purpose of the box is to disapate some of the heat that can build up. Skipping it might be okay for a standard incandescent in a lower wattage.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

They are Melamine enclosures. Two of them are built by me, they use low wattage bulbs (75w or less) since they are small cages (24"w x 20"d x 12"h). These house adult colubrids.

Another two are custom built cages from Reptile Housing Authority. I bought them back in 2000. Sadly, RHA closed its doors when Vision cages came out (what was that, 2001, 2002?). They are very nice cages made of wood, not melamine. Very strong, very easy to assemble, and just overall nice cages.

Here is a link to their old site using WayBack Machine
web.archive.org/web/20010119190200/www.reptile-housing.com/

And a picture of what they look like.

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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

Are you saying the RHA cage had the porcelain fixture screwed directly to the wood? That surprises me.

Did the cage come with a listed wattage maximum?
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Yes, thats how they came. He used plastics at first, but I changed them to ceramics since I had some extras. The plastics I beleive he told me not to use more then 100watt bulbs. With the ceramics, I have used 150 watt regulars and 160 watt Mercury Vapor lamps.
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net