ReptiSun 10.0 Dessert Bulb, Help

[vickson420]

Great that you ordered the T-Rex.As far as your questions,no you dont need to worry about any other bulbs for uva.The TRex does it all.The only thing you may need is an additional bulb to boost temps but that can simply be an ordinary household white light bulb.There is no need at all to spend any extra money on those expensive basking bulb.Also you may not need the additional heat so there may be no need although I like to add more light so if my temps are ok with just the one MVB bulb then what I do is use one of those ordinary household energy efficient spiral flourescents(non uvb) bulbs for light because they dont emit heat so the temps are not affected.You could use the little zoomed basking bulb if you have it and it gets the desired temp as well either way will work.

 

[twyliteskyz]

About the building of the viv,
Twylite, you talked about partitioning because of getting your baby. Ollie,our 6inch little girl is in the pictured 36 in viv and she uses the whole area. I have the basking on one side and she ussually sits on that side, but when hunting or just exploring she goes around the whole viv. The girl in the pet store mentioned that I would have to partition for Ollie to catch her crickets, but those crickets are not very sharp and they come right up to Ollie and that's all she wrote. I am a newbie, but the partition issue for me has be axed. She enjoys exploring the viv. If you have any questions while building just let me know.
I will say that my plans were to put formica on the entire inside. Well, I realized that an easier and MUCH less expensive option was to go to the flooring section and purchase the 18x18 stick tile in a desert color tone and liquid nail them down. You can cut it easily with scissors and It looks great and easy to clean. Just a little thing I discovered that no one else had ever mentioned. My only regret that I will be changing is the hinges. I am going to pull out those hideous hinges I have now and replace them with piano hinge.
Good Luck and I would love to build these things for a living. I would take orders if I thought it would take off! Also it is a hell of a lot cheaper than some of the sites I saw the homemade wooden vivs are.

hey there, that is good to know, i also considered just putting the BD in a seperate tank just for feeding? because i have a 10 gallon extra tank i could use just to stick it in for feeding times unless that will cause stress or other problems, maybe then i wont have the "too large" problem that way

 

[twyliteskyz]

to be honest i stopped by pet supermarket tonight to judge tank sizes, and really a 48" isnt such a bad idea, but i might still go with the 20" width.... i looked at the BDs. and noticed the temp was only 90 degrees in the hot spot, and they were babys, arent they suppose to be like 110? oh well :\

 

[vickson420]

Yes 105-110 for babies.Rule of thumb pet stores stink at advice and husbandry never follow their lead :shock:

 

[zoomommi]

I agree about the pet store advise. This website and another forum is the place to go for advise and education. Every person I spoke to in the same store (Petco) gave different information. I think that is true about a lot of things.
They (employees) in this store are all BD owners and different info are given every time I go in. Don't get me wrong, they all love there dragons but I think this is the place for the folks who want the tried and true information.
The lighting information is fantastic and someone put a link to a UK light study that is great.
I hope my T-Rex comes in soon, as Ollie is only get a few hours of natural sunlight right now.
You guys are FANTASTIC and I really appreciate the help too!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays....HO HO HO
zoomommi

 

[zoomommi]

OK, one more lighting question.
What is the best fixture to put the T-Rex in? Should I get the expensive controller fixture or a ceramic dome fixture hung over the viv? It is 20 inches high so I will exceed the 12 inch recomendation. It also will be over screen.
Thanks,
zoomommi
I promise, last question!

 

[Josh48329]

OK, one more lighting question.
What is the best fixture to put the T-Rex in? Should I get the expensive controller fixture or a ceramic dome fixture hung over the viv? It is 20 inches high so I will exceed the 12 inch recomendation. It also will be over screen.
Thanks,
zoomommi
I promise, last question!

The deep dome fixture linked above should do just fine. If you don't get the deep one though, the bulb will stick out and you won't be able to rest it directly on top of the enclosure. If you want an expensive controller fixture, then go for it. Personally, I'd just buy the deep dome ceramic and plug it into a $5 timer from home depot or any hardware store. That will allow your lights to automatically turn on and off at the same time every day and should only cost you around $20 total. Whatever you do though, make sure the fixture is rated for at least 150W if you're using the 100W bulb.