4x2x.5x4 setup

[Silvally]

I've ordered a 4x2.5x4 enclosure for my beardie as I'm looking to upgrade her size and offer more climbing opportunities. She's a pretty avid climber in her current setup and tends to spend a lot of time on branches etc, so I think this is a fair compromise on size as I do not have any more horizontal room. I know lighting is going to be a challenge but I'm pretty happy to go for it, I've ordered a solarmeter so I can track UVB etc. Does anyone have any pictures and examples of enclosures with similar dimensions for inspiration and some advice to go with it?
Thanks

 

[KarrieRee]

I've ordered a 4x2.5x4 enclosure for my beardie as I'm looking to upgrade her size and offer more climbing opportunities. She's a pretty avid climber in her current setup and tends to spend a lot of time on branches etc, so I think this is a fair compromise on size as I do not have any more horizontal room. I know lighting is going to be a challenge but I'm pretty happy to go for it, I've ordered a solarmeter so I can track UVB etc. Does anyone have any pictures and examples of enclosures with similar dimensions for inspiration and some advice to go with it?
Thanks

The tank is a 300 gallon correct? How old is the dragon? Most dragons like floor space opposed to height- If the height of the tank is 4 feet tall I would recommend a Arcadia 14% bulb - those bulbs are designed for higher tanks - it would need to be inside the tank w/ a distance of 17-18 inches directly over the basking decor piece - your surface basking temps need to be taken w/a digital probe thermometer and that will determine the wattage of the bulb- I am assuming that will need to go inside the tank as well -- you dont want the basking bulb any closer than 6" tho-- please watch temps if using any slate rocks etc those tend to get real hot

 

[Silvally]

She's about 3 ish. It's a custom wooden enclosure I've puchased online, so I have no clue what the gallon total is but it's probably around about that volume.
Yeah I know they prefer floor space. It's still 4 foot long, so she's got an okay amount of space and it's a little wider than the usualy 2 foot of space. I would have ordered a 6 foot enclosure but I just don't have the space and won't be moving for a good while. I think this is a fair compromise so she can get some extra enrichment in from the climbing space and extra width.
The 14% for sure sounds like a good idea. Do you think a mercury vapour or metal hallide would be useful for making an extra UVB rich basking area? Perhaps there could be different basking areas at different heights. I've also got an arcadia LED bar coming in to help with the ambient lighting which should help with the brightness. I'll make sure to measure the UVB output either way so I can optimise that part.
All heating will be on a dimming thermostat so I'll try to dial that in and keep that in mind with rocks. I currently use bricks and they can get a bit hot if I'm not careful.

 

[KarrieRee]

She's about 3 ish. It's a custom wooden enclosure I've puchased online, so I have no clue what the gallon total is but it's probably around about that volume.
Yeah I know they prefer floor space. It's still 4 foot long, so she's got an okay amount of space and it's a little wider than the usualy 2 foot of space. I would have ordered a 6 foot enclosure but I just don't have the space and won't be moving for a good while. I think this is a fair compromise so she can get some extra enrichment in from the climbing space and extra width.
The 14% for sure sounds like a good idea. Do you think a mercury vapour or metal hallide would be useful for making an extra UVB rich basking area? Perhaps there could be different basking areas at different heights. I've also got an arcadia LED bar coming in to help with the ambient lighting which should help with the brightness. I'll make sure to measure the UVB output either way so I can optimise that part.
All heating will be on a dimming thermostat so I'll try to dial that in and keep that in mind with rocks. I currently use bricks and they can get a bit hot if I'm not careful.

The 14% is good but you must have the height- being its a two story and the top part is basking area you need the height - I dont like MVB's you get the heat but not so much the UVB-- I am going to have CooperDragon chime in on this
@CooperDragon

 

[CooperDragon]

If you have one who loves climbing, then building one 4' tall (or taller) is a good idea. The more space the better in my opinion. Having more space will allow you to build levels and offer a variety of lighting options. You don't necessarily need to install the most powerful UVB, just build a basking platform at an appropriate height for what you have. For example, you could have a T5 Arcadia 12% sitting 12'' above a platform near the top alongside an incandescent or halogen flood bulb that is getting the platform to 95-105ish range. You could have a lower platform that is 18'' or so from the top that is sitting under part of the T5 so that there is some UVB exposure with less heat. Then you could rig a second basking bulb under the top platform so that the floor of the enclosure is sitting at 95-105ish with no UVB so that they can go warm up without intense UVB. Same goes for infrared. You could add a heat projector that will provide some heat with no visible light that would be good for nighttime (or sometimes they just enjoy intense IR). Offering a variety will let them pick what they want at a given time. They don't always need/want to be under full sunlight conditions. I wish I had some pictures of Taterbugs setup - that comes to mind when I think of tall enclosures with different basking levels.

 

[Silvally]

If you have one who loves climbing, then building one 4' tall (or taller) is a good idea. The more space the better in my opinion. Having more space will allow you to build levels and offer a variety of lighting options. You don't necessarily need to install the most powerful UVB, just build a basking platform at an appropriate height for what you have. For example, you could have a T5 Arcadia 12% sitting 12'' above a platform near the top alongside an incandescent or halogen flood bulb that is getting the platform to 95-105ish range. You could have a lower platform that is 18'' or so from the top that is sitting under part of the T5 so that there is some UVB exposure with less heat. Then you could rig a second basking bulb under the top platform so that the floor of the enclosure is sitting at 95-105ish with no UVB so that they can go warm up without intense UVB. Same goes for infrared. You could add a heat projector that will provide some heat with no visible light that would be good for nighttime (or sometimes they just enjoy intense IR). Offering a variety will let them pick what they want at a given time. They don't always need/want to be under full sunlight conditions. I wish I had some pictures of Taterbugs setup - that comes to mind when I think of tall enclosures with different basking levels.

I quite like that idea, thanks both of you. I think offering different choices could be quite good for her in terms of enrichment and wellfare. I like the idea of having different heating areas and intensities. I've seen a couple of digital thermostats that can dim different bulbs at once which may help with the temperatures. The larger enclosure may make keeping them warm at night more difficult, so I agree, DHP will probably be a good idea.

 

[Silvally]

If you have one who loves climbing, then building one 4' tall (or taller) is a good idea. The more space the better in my opinion. Having more space will allow you to build levels and offer a variety of lighting options. You don't necessarily need to install the most powerful UVB, just build a basking platform at an appropriate height for what you have. For example, you could have a T5 Arcadia 12% sitting 12'' above a platform near the top alongside an incandescent or halogen flood bulb that is getting the platform to 95-105ish range. You could have a lower platform that is 18'' or so from the top that is sitting under part of the T5 so that there is some UVB exposure with less heat. Then you could rig a second basking bulb under the top platform so that the floor of the enclosure is sitting at 95-105ish with no UVB so that they can go warm up without intense UVB. Same goes for infrared. You could add a heat projector that will provide some heat with no visible light that would be good for nighttime (or sometimes they just enjoy intense IR). Offering a variety will let them pick what they want at a given time. They don't always need/want to be under full sunlight conditions. I wish I had some pictures of Taterbugs setup - that comes to mind when I think of tall enclosures with different basking levels.

Just wanted to update on the progress of the viv:

I've scrawled on the UVI outputs of the UVB tube at the top for different areas. There's a high intensity basking area (about 5 ish UVI) at the top left. The middle spot is about 3 - 3.5 UVI when she wants less intense heat and UVB (there's going to be another heat lamp above it). The thing on the right is just a cool lookout area for her to be high up and look around.

There's going to be another heat lamp on the bottom left to provide more heat (I may use an MVB, not sure yet). This provides a low UVB basking area if she wishes. I'm thinking of having a secondary UVB tube at the front of the enclosure (14% probably) to provide some UVB at the bottom of the enclosure, but I'm not fully sure yet. I also have a jungle dawn LED bar to provide some light - a lot of taller enclosures look dim so I want to elimate that (I use one in her regular enclosure anyway, big difference on light).

 

[KarrieRee]

Just wanted to update on the progress of the viv:
View attachment 80581
I've scrawled on the UVI outputs of the UVB tube at the top for different areas. There's a high intensity basking area (about 5 ish UVI) at the top left. The middle spot is about 3 - 3.5 UVI when she wants less intense heat and UVB (there's going to be another heat lamp above it). The thing on the right is just a cool lookout area for her to be high up and look around.

There's going to be another heat lamp on the bottom left to provide more heat (I may use an MVB, not sure yet). This provides a low UVB basking area if she wishes. I'm thinking of having a secondary UVB tube at the front of the enclosure (14% probably) to provide some UVB at the bottom of the enclosure, but I'm not fully sure yet. I also have a jungle dawn LED bar to provide some light - a lot of taller enclosures look dim so I want to elimate that (I use one in her regular enclosure anyway, big difference on light).

Your basking bulb is too close -- it should be atleast 6" from the basking decor-- I also would recommend more floor space -- it looks really cramped

 

[Silvally]

The floor space is about 4 foot long - standard beardie enclosure size. The height and width makes it look shorter.
Basking lamp is about 7.5 inches away from the decor. I am tenous about its positioning.

 

[KarrieRee]

The floor space is about 4 foot long - standard beardie enclosure size. The height and width makes it look shorter.
Basking lamp is about 7.5 inches away from the decor. I am tenous about its positioning.

Ok it looks smaller must be the height thats throwing me off -- I would be really careful w/ the basking light and wattage -- I would set a digital probe thermometer there on the decor and get a surface basking temp before putting him in there --

 

[Silvally]

Ok it looks smaller must be the height thats throwing me off -- I would be really careful w/ the basking light and wattage -- I would set a digital probe thermometer there on the decor and get a surface basking temp before putting him in there --

For sure. Once I get all the lighting in I'm going to be testing and adjusting the wattages. I've bought a bunch of different bulbs to try to get it all on point.

 

[Silvally]

Turns out I messed up measuring the UVI - It ended up being about 6.5 lol. I'm moving the shelf down a few inches so I can get it to about 4.5 - 5 instead. Means the basking lamp will be a safer distance away too.
Edit: I measured it wrong again, it was actually fine lol.

 

[Silvally]

Ok it looks smaller must be the height thats throwing me off -- I would be really careful w/ the basking light and wattage -- I would set a digital probe thermometer there on the decor and get a surface basking temp before putting him in there --

I have a revised intense basking area. How well do you think this will work? One is a 50w other is 75watt flood to make a large even basking area. Right now the highest surface temperature is about 114 (which I can control with a dimming thermostat).
(She hasn't move in yet, she's just there for reference).

 

[CooperDragon]

That looks good. You might want to use a lower wattage basking bulb to bring the temps down because you don't want to wind up dimming a whole lot and the temps will probably climb throghout the day. The bulbs look like they're up out of reach and if you're getting 4.5-5 UVI over the basking area, that's great.

 

[Silvally]

That looks good. You might want to use a lower wattage basking bulb to bring the temps down because you don't want to wind up dimming a whole lot and the temps will probably climb throghout the day. The bulbs look like they're up out of reach and if you're getting 4.5-5 UVI over the basking area, that's great.

Thanks for the reply. I agree with you - I have a manual dimmer for testing and the 75 watt + 50 watt was getting the basking area up to about 120 which is undesirable. I've ordered some more 50 watt lamps so I'll use those for her basking area. Ideally the thermostat shouldn't be dimming, but hopefully it ends up more of a safety thing than anything else.