Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we are going to Delaware and want to bring Delilah.

we are staying in a townhouse and the youngest kid is mine and she is great with her.

I have as 65 gal reptarium and active heat uvb bulb and I got the stand today

I have the reptarium on its side and set up a log and the light but having difficulty getting the temps over 95 and bulb is like an inch over the reptarium, I dont want to start a fire or melt the reptarium..

If I cant get it right she will stay home with the rest, we have a trusted friend comming in to feed,mist,water etc the critters, but we love delilah and her company so much and my eldest is leaving for camp the next week and she wants to have more time with her while we are away too........delilah is currently sleeping under my hubbys tshirt on his chest on the couch, she is really a part of our family.........

any suggestions would help......
sue

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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

i thought you could place the heat lamps on those things... well you could try a higher wattage bulb, one step up will probably do it, or make the basking spot higher. ya know, when i travel with my beardies i use rubbermaid bins, just fill em up with the supplies you need for the dragon,(i carry my dragons in pet carriers, they usually just sleep the whole way) unpack it and set it up when you get there, check temps, and put your dragon in, temps are easy to get right in the bins, i usually just take the screeen tops from their home enclosures, lay them over the bins and place the heat lamps on there, hope maybe this helps a bit

you can place the heat lamps directly on repitariums as long as the bulb itself isn't touching the mesh...

alissa

make sure if you use bulbs higher than 100 watts to allow about 1.5 to 2 inches between the bulb and the mesh. If it is too clsoe it will become pink where the bulb is over time. This is especially so with CHEs.

I use 150 watt CHEs (in addition to the slate and the heat pad) suspended over the reptariums for basking heat. But right now my reptariums are in a cool basement room so a 100 watt would probably be fine in a normal temperature room.

I use them in the house, as well as glass tanks. With the reptariums, I use repti-sun bulbs for UV and dome lights with regular household bulbs for heat. It was too hard to get both the light and heat right when they are in one bulb with these mesh tanks.
I find the reptariums need a bulb 1-2 steps up higher than a glass tank of a similar size would need. Say, a 60watt bulb gives you perfect basking temps in a glass tank of a similar size, I would try a 75 or 100 watt in the reptarium, of course checking the temps with a thermometer.
When I have trouble keeping the heat in, even then, I will use 2 pieces of plexiglass cut the same size as the 2 sides of the reptarium that the heat bulb is near. You could lean these 2 pieces of plexiglass against the outside of the mesh tank (at the ends where the heat lamp is) and they help keep the temps up by creating a heat barrier.
NOW, in a pinch, I would suggest using 2 pieces of cardboard, cut the same size as the 2 end panels of your reptarium, however it is positioned. Lean the cardboard against the outside of the tank at the ends where the heat lamp is & that should bring AND keep the temps up. There is plenty of circulation via the other 2 mesh walls of the tank left uncovered. You might need to prop something against the cardboard to hold it flush against the screen of the tank. I actually insert the pieces of cut plexiglass down in between the mesh sack and the frame, they are held perfectly in place that way. You might could do that as you assemble the reptarium.
What a happy little dragon, sleepin with Dad
Good Luck!
Sharla

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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

I am currently raising 2 groups of ababies in reptariums and I've discovered this little trick...

#1 get a piece of flat black slate. Put that UNDER the heat lamp. This will absorp the heat and when the dragon sits on it the dragon will get hot too.

#2 use a human heat pad under the reptarium. I have a human ehat pad and I set it on high. This will also help the slate keep it's temperature and adiate the heat upward (like the ground does on hot days).

Another thing is to have the reptarium in a warm section of the house.

that is an adorable picture, didnt we meet your lil girl when she was just a lil girl? shes a pretty dragon

a few more ideas / what I do....

I have the 65 also, here is how I am using it.

it's in a corner of a room so two sides are next to walls.

I have 3 of the plastic inserts they sell for them.
bottom and two "ends"

this leaves the two zipper'd "sides" open for access and reduces the drafty ness.

I have serveral bulbs over this thing....

2x150 watt "Dalylight" bulbs with flukers 250 wat hoods
at two different locations.

a 100 watt halogen "reading lamp" on a tall floor stand sitting on the table ths reptarium is on to provide an overhead light near the center.

a small heat bulb on a zoo-med thermostat or rheostat (can't recall which it the one??)
near one corner (hot spot area)

and a UV 8% flourecent tube along one end ...

with the 150 wat daylights about 2" from the mesh the temps can be over 100 deg.

room temp is near 80 deg.

I am planing on getting the active heat / UVB bulbs soon
they sound great!

any questions post back as we have the same problem with heating this kind of habitat
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