The incandescent bulb was the answer. 65 watt BR30 makes the basking spot 100-105 while the warm side is around 85-90. The cool side is just above 80. That's after an hour of running. I'm going to check again in a couple hours and monitor it for a couple weeks while everything cures. Then a wipe...
I started with styrofoam and glued it all together to get the shape. Once I had the shape I took a hack saw blade and ran across the surface to make it really rough. Lowes has a pre mix non sanded grout that you just add water to. I made a mix of that the same thickness as regular wall paint...
There's 2 large vents on the side and 6 across the back just above the tile. The rest of the Viv is between 80-85 degrees, it's just the basking spot that gets really hot. The Viv sits directly below an AC vent (about 2.5' below it when on the stand) so it gets really good airflow. I'm going to...
Also I went with a front door hinged at the bottom with 2 latches on the sides to make cleaning easier. The door is 4' wide by 2' tall. The top 1' of the Viv (its 4' x 2' x 3') is to hide the lighting.
I just finished mine today. I used oak plywood and I put tile to the walls and floor. The plywood is stained and coated with 4 coats of polycrylic. I did grout it but I sealed the grout with epoxy resin I got from a local place in Orlando.
I went with epoxy resin because of the fake rock. It's...
So I finished my Viv today. I ended up coating the rock in epoxy resin and calcium sand over 3 coats of sanded grout. You could hit it with a hammer and not hurt it.
Tomorrow I'm going to have to pick up a different bulb for the basking lamp as with the Par 38 90 Watt halogen on the dimmest...
I've already applied 2 coats of poly acrylic unfortunately. The sides are all that will be exposed and there's not really a rush so hopefully with enough coats it will hold up. If not I'll just tile the sides as well.
I've already dropped more money than expected on the fake rock supplies. I...
I ended up lowering the basking spot 4" to allow for the 12" the halogen light needs. I'm going to go with the Arcadia you linked for UV. 75 Watt was the closest to 60 which I wanted but I bought a dimmer so no big deal.
The back story. My youngest son who has a mild form of aspergers has been lizard and animal crazy since he was 3. His aspergers causes him to fidget A LOT so he was getting really bad grades in school. We finally found medication that gives him the ability to focus but we needed to find...