My DIY Tank...smell

[Andry]

So, our beardie is now living in his new enclosure my husband and I made for him. I have decided after reading through this thread some to use a MVB Mega-Ray bulb 100 from Reptile UV instead of mounting a tube for UV. It has not arrived yet, but once it does, I will try it where I mounted the houshold Halogen bulb I have in there now. The Hologen bulb is 90watts yet I wasn't able to point it to the second level platform in the tank like planned. Pointing down below it is reaching 110 degrees (using a probe thermometer). It's about 22 inches away. I wonder what the 100 watt Mega-Ray bulb will do.

I do have one question, in the meantime, while the halogen bulb is in there, I noticed a smell in the enclosure. I can't describe it. It has to do with the bulb or the lamp being on in general because it only smells when it is on. Is it heating up the grout or the sealer to cause this smell or is it the bulb itself? Any insight on what this might be?

Here is the enclosure, the beardie was sleeping under the plant while I took the picture, so you can't see him. He's a juvie, still small:

 

[Beardednoob]

What is the platform and backing made from? How long did you give your grout to dry, and the other items to dry? I love the viv still, awesome job, I want one how much? JK but, I would buy one.

 

[Andry]

I made it with styrofoam covered in grout and the floor is tile. The whole thing is a platform tv. I let it dry for about 2 months I think. It sat or a long time before I finished installing the doors.

 

[Beardednoob]

What about the light fixture, what wattage can it handle? is it ceramic?

 

[Andry]

I wish someone could tell me what wattage it can take. It is ceramics but I made the connection by adding a cable from an extension cord. I have a 90 watt bulb in there.

 

[Beardednoob]

Do you happen to remember anything about it which could give us something to search for so I can be identified? I am thinking it may be the bulb fixture, by chance has the fixture been in there since it was being made? May it have collected moisture, dust? or anything like that?

 

[Andry]

I believe it is this one here:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xh6/R-100028364/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Looks like it's made out of steel which makes more sense. Porcelain feels different now that I'm thinking about it.

And no, we put the fixture at the very end of the project. It was the last thing we did before installing the doors. I do have to report that the smell has gone away since I posted this. Probably only lasted about a week. Should I still worry?

 

[triumphtt]

If the beardie isn't acting weird I would think it would be fine if you can't smell it. I would think they would be able to tell before we could. Like how miners use to use Canaries to smell the gas. Not to make it sound like he is going to die but just that he would pick up something bad for him and probably try to get out.
On a side not I have doors like you do and my new basking bulb was getting up to 115 so I opened the doors and just laid them against the tank (leaving about 3-4 open at the top) and it dropped 10 degrees. So just in case the new bulb gets a little hotter you can try that. I also use the plexiglass that was scrap from when Lowes cut mine down so I actually have a door that 1/3 the size and leave that on to get a lot of air circulation.