Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all - right now I have a 72x18x17 acrylic tank with a screen top. It takes 2 100W household bulbs and a 160W flood MVB all on the warm end to get it to the proper temperatures.

I've been considering building a wooden enclosure, with wood sides, back, and bottom, and a mostly wooden cover with some screening for the lights. I was wondering if I can expect the heat retention to be much greater, to the point where I can reduce my bulb usage to 2 or maybe even just the MVB?

Any thoughts? I really need to reduce our power usage. Thanks!
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~ Vamppire
Queens, New York City

I have one wood cage that I use for my monitors. It keeps the head quite well. I have a 160 watt Powersun over the basking spot which is about 140 degrees and just have one 18" florescent light mounted in the back of the cage. I have a heat pad installed under the cage which is switched and is kept on all winter, but I turn that off in summer. I use the retes stack which is a great option giving your animal choices as to where the temps are most comfortable. The cool side of the cage is around 80-85 degrees. Feel free to e-mail me for a picture. I didn't make it, but you can see by the picture how it was constructed. It has a large front door which drops down in front. Good luck with your project.

Pam

Hi!
So you keep all the lightning and bulbs above the terrarium?
I keep the bulbs inside the cage, so I need just one 100w bulb and uv-lights, wich both hang inside the terrarium.
Oh, and mine is all glass, without any cover.

Soon I will get a wooden cage, with glass doors, and ventilation screens on both sides, and maybe some small holes on the back side.
I think I will change the 100w bulb to two 60w bulbs, if they are enough, don't know. (And I will add some general lighting, 'cause I don't have the chance now)

...But after all, my point is that I recommend you to put the heating and lighting bulbs inside the cage, so you don't need so much watts.

If you can figure out a way to cover the top you will retain a lot more heat in the cage.

Here is a link to a cage I built last fall and have been very happy with.

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~echarris/archcage/

I have both a mali and an Egyptian, so I made the height suitable for the Egyptian, this has led to me having to use more lights than I normally would, but the cage retains heat wonderfully. If I were to do it again there are 3 things I would change for the mali:

1 - I would not make the cage as tall.
2 - I would use wood tracks for the sliding glass in front, not plastic
3 - I would let the cage air for another month before I put an animal in it (for a total of 6-8 weeks)

There is a cage building forum that is incredibly helpful here on Kingsnake, they helped me work through and avoid a lot of mistakes while I was designing the cage, and saved me a lot of wasted time and money.

If you have any questions let me know!

Elizabeth

ps - In the picture the glass is not in its tracks, when installed properly there is no gap between the top of the sliding glass and the cage.

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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

you know, you have posted that picture many times before and this is the first time i noticed that there is a lizard in the cage. gee i am observant, ha ha
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

LOL. Yup, Archimedes. I feel really bad posting it again and again, but new people keep asking for info on cage building and it just seems like I might as well share it. :-/

Elizabeth
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

oh no, i love seeing your cage. it is very inspiring. i was just saying what an idiot i am for never having seen the lizard before!
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***