Revised Enclosure and lighting...thoughts?

Hi All,

Still new here; first post aside from my Intro, where I was given some great suggestions on my lighting setup. Here's Zuul's revised setup, and I just wanted some feedback.



Her basking is now a 150W ReptiHalogen, and keeps her area around 105-115* F, depending on where she feels like laying. I don't want to accuse her of being a little derpy, but she's finally learned to move around when she's too warm, or gape to cool herself. The light used to be a 160 MVB, but it never got the temps high enough. I may put the basking light on a stand to raise it up for the summer if it gets too warm. Her cool side is generally around 80*, and she has a nice gradient. She's missing a few toys and climby items in the picture, because she decided to poop on them...

Temps were measured with both an infrared heat gun, as well as digital probe thermometers, which were was suggested I get. Unfortunately, she determined they need to be attacked, so they don't last too long before I take them out. At least I got the same readings with them versus the heat gun, so I know the temps are accurate.

UVB is now being handled by a 34" ReptiSun UVB10 T5HO in a slim 36" ballast with a reflector. It covers her basking area entirely, and is reinforced by high temp zip-ties...just in case. I have it hung on the back of the tank with, don't laugh, extra shower curtain hooks I had around. Quick solution before I can get to Home Depot. It puts the light about 8" from her on her basking area, and about 13-14" away if she's off that platform.

From all the reading and research, I think I've finally got everything covered and somewhat correct. My only concern is her being too close to the T5HO. Is 8" OK while basking, or should I raise it up?

Thanks for taking a peek! Zuul is annoyed today and getting dull, so I'm pretty sure she's going to be shedding soon. When she's not camera shy we'll have a few more pics up!

That looks really good. 8'' is a *little* too close for a T5 with reflector but if she can move away easily and still get some basking temps it should be OK. Without a screen the best distance for a T5 is around 12'' or so. Maybe about 10'' with a screen. That said, since it's off to one side a bit and there are plenty of areas away from it, I wouldn't worry about it much because she should be able to sense the UVB levels and move if needed. For example if it's too high on the top of the habba hut she can move on top of the box which is a little further away but still probably has a good amount of heat for basking. If she's tired of UVB exposure completely she can go over to the cool side or into one of the shade areas.

Thank you again, Cooper, for the advice. I want to move the UVB up a little, but I wanted to make sure it worked first. I should be able to find proper hooks, and get it up another inch.

But yeah, she does have room to move...she has a few specific areas on the 2 logs and the hut thingy. I have a few nice slabs of ribbon slate that I'll be putting in once I clean them so she has a better, more flat basking spot, and an easier way to get up to it. Still not sure what I want to do on the right of the tank..

Thanks also for the suggestion of a halogen instead of the MVB...temps are ideal, and she's been loving it since.

That's great. I like the halogens quite a bit after trying them for a while now. Works beauty with a dimmer which was the key in my case.