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 motivation. He's been asking me for a bearded dragon for a few years. So we made a deal, A-B honor roll and I would not only get him a bearded dragon I would build him a Viv. Well the little knucklehead went from an D and F student to A-B honor roll to get his bearded dragon. He's been reading and studying what he needs to care for it since school let out for the summer.
This weekend I started the build using a modified cross fire setup. I wanted to keep the lights hidden so instead of being 2' tall it's 3' tall. The front has a 1' face at the top to keep the lights hidden. I used Oak for the wood and I'm sealing the whole inside with poly acrylic. The floor will be tile and I'm also building a fake rock basking area. I have a few questions.
I started the fake rock and built the basking spot 18" from the enclosure floor so that I can mount the lights on the top of the Viv and keep them hidden but I think I built the basking spot too high. I prefer to use a fluorescent tube for the UVB. Should I get a T8 or T5? Lowes has a halogen flood that I want to use as the basking light. The fixture without the bulb is 6" high. That's 12" from the basking spot without the bulb. If I angle the light and place it 12" from the basking spot at and angle instead of directly above will that be ok? Also what watt bulb should I get? I live in Florida so the summer time temp in the room is 73-76. During the winter the lowest the temp gets is 68 inside. I can lower the basking spot if need be to allow the 12" but I want to angle the basking flood. The basking light will be hard wired with a dimmer.
My other question has to do with the fake rock. What is the strongest sealer to make the rock as durable as possible after applying the grout and paint?
This weekend I started the build using a modified cross fire setup. I wanted to keep the lights hidden so instead of being 2' tall it's 3' tall. The front has a 1' face at the top to keep the lights hidden. I used Oak for the wood and I'm sealing the whole inside with poly acrylic. The floor will be tile and I'm also building a fake rock basking area. I have a few questions.
I started the fake rock and built the basking spot 18" from the enclosure floor so that I can mount the lights on the top of the Viv and keep them hidden but I think I built the basking spot too high. I prefer to use a fluorescent tube for the UVB. Should I get a T8 or T5? Lowes has a halogen flood that I want to use as the basking light. The fixture without the bulb is 6" high. That's 12" from the basking spot without the bulb. If I angle the light and place it 12" from the basking spot at and angle instead of directly above will that be ok? Also what watt bulb should I get? I live in Florida so the summer time temp in the room is 73-76. During the winter the lowest the temp gets is 68 inside. I can lower the basking spot if need be to allow the 12" but I want to angle the basking flood. The basking light will be hard wired with a dimmer.
My other question has to do with the fake rock. What is the strongest sealer to make the rock as durable as possible after applying the grout and paint?