DIY Wooden Enclosure Lighting Help

[TheRamiRocketMan]

I'm a good way through constructing a new custom wood enclosure for my bearded dragon, but I'm running into a snag with lighting. My plan is to have 3 ceramic fixtures - One basking light, one UVB compact and one Ceramic Heater - and a single UVB tube fixture. The Basking light, UVB compact and tube will be connected to a timer while the ceramic heater will provide ambient heat via a thermostat.

I thought finding Edison screw fixtures would be easy but no hardware store seems to stock them, and every purpose-made reptile socket seems to be equipt with a dome which won't fit into my setup. I can't cut a hole in the tank and put the dome on-top because the door is designed to swing onto the roof.

Has anyone on the forums also built a wooden tank?
How have they installed their lighting?

 

[CooperDragon]

A lot of people just attach the ceramic sockets to the ceiling of a wooden fixture. I suggest putting a socket over the cool side for your ceramic heat emitter and one over the basking area. Then hang a 22'' T5 fixture over the basking area either at an angle so the basking light is in the center of a triangle with the UVB fixture and two sides, or parallel to the side along the back or front which will give you a good gradient. A socket like this should work for the basking and CHE lights https://www.homedepot.com/p/Westinghouse-2-in-Porcelain-Fixture-Socket-7042500/206601177 You could hook them up to dimmers so you can fine tune their output too. That helps when you have a fixed top and can't adjust their height.