Crossfire DIY - Help! Ceramic IR and MV UVB Lamp

kelbeldesign · Dec 8, 2016

We are in the process of building crossfire style enclosures for our two boys in anticipation of their welcoming bearded dragons after Christmas. As newbies we are trying to get as much information to give our dragons their best start. In that spirit, we visited the exotic vet today for our husbandry appointment and she strongly recommended we use a ceramic IR heat emitter and a self ballasted Mercury Vapor UVB lamp for our new critters. Problem is I am not sure how best to incorporate these two lamps into the design of the crossfire - as far as I can tell they are meant to be used with a wire topped aquarium? Does anyone have any experience with this? Thank you in advance for the advice!

Kelly

Rankins · Dec 8, 2016

Kind of depends how your building the enclosure. The lights and heater can be mounted on the inside as long as the dragon can't come in contact with them. The mercury bulb cant be used with a dimmer switch, but the CHE can be. That way you can adjust how much heat you want it to put off. When you get your enclosure built, take some pictures so we can try to help figure out the best way to set the lights and CHE up.

Skipper7 · Dec 9, 2016

Make sure you read into different MVB lights. Some need to be kept 12" from the beardies.

kelbeldesign · Dec 18, 2016

Thanks all for the help. Here are the specifics - we built 4'x2'x2' melamine enclosures using the crossfire plans. They have vents along the back and on the sides. We still need to get basking platforms, hides and other goodies. Our main question - can we install these lights inside the enclosure? or do they need to be an external installation like an aquarium with metal screen on the top. Thanks again for all the help

Here are some photos of the enclosures, bulbs we got on the vets recommendation and fixtures recommended by the manufacturer that we are considering buying: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10211627842794580.1073741900.1321542190&type=1&l=b86cc17b2d

Crossfire DIY - Help! Ceramic IR and MV UVB Lamp

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