This flipping viv is driving me insane. Help!

[Bobbijo2u]

I have a 100 g custom viv...poorly made I must add. It has thin glass. Thinner than a aquarium glass would be. Anyways I am battling temps. My basking bulb from zoo med blew. So I scoured this sight and tried incadescent and halogen. I had a 60 w halogen... No dice. Temps too cool on basking. 100 w incadescent doesn't seem to be doing the trick either. He has never basked on a basking spot for long. He is either on a limb or on a rock that is attached to the wall, I moved the limb to under the light so he could get up closer but of course off he goes to the rock or hammock. The temps in either area are 70- 85 the temp on the limb close to the light I have at 90 it is 10in from the light and I can't get it closer and I doubt he will stay on it if I did.... I think it is the viv. The glass does not allow for any form of insulation. I love it because its 5 ft long. He has lots of room. But I'm sure if I tried to mount the light inside to get it closer to him a clamp would probably smash the glass. Ugh. Any ideas? We will build a new viv...but right now it is not possible. Where I am temps outside are fluctuating as well as fall is here and winter around the corner.

 

[morphmom]

Bump!

 

[jovamabob]

My house is cold so i used a 75w clear basking bulb until i switched to the Ceramic Bulbs. I prefer to use Ceramic heat emitters because when it gets very cold here in winter, i can have a controlled night temperature via a thermostat without disrupting him. They also last much longer and can be used with a regular thermostat. At the minute i use a 75w ceramic heat bulb which i have on a 12hr cycle and a 25w ceramic heat bulb on 24/7 now that its cold which produce perfect day/night temps here. As for their fitting you need a ceramic holder with heat resistant cable, as they get very hot!

 

[jovamabob]

when it gets warmer here and he starts gaping a lot i switch out the 75w ceramic for a regular 60w clear basking bulb. if i have none of those i just put the 75w ceramic on a thermostat.

 

[Bobbijo2u]

I have right now a 100 CHE at night. Woke up this am to his viv at 64 degrees. During the day I have a 100 w incadescent and 75 w basking going. I am going to have to use the red heat light at night as well for now as The only solution I have is to build a new viv. This thing just has no insulation for the heat with this glass being so thin. I can't clamp the lights inside the viv as the glass I am sure would snap. Very frustrated.

 

[morphmom]

What about adding more levels? And blankets? Canada can get very cold in the winter, so I was very fussy in my placement of her cage furniture.
Here:


(This is the cool side of her viv. The small branch is right under her 100watt CHE. The large branch is right under her Repti-sun 24inch UVB, she can get within 5-6inches of the tube light. The green fabric you see, is her hammock. It's almost sitting on the bottom of the viv. This is the coolest spot in the viv and I will put a blankie on her if it's under 65degrees before bed.


(Myah in her fleece blankie in her hammock and on her pillow )


(This is the hot side of the tank. The basking rock has on side that's higher then the other and I can adjust the height by adding or taking away the tile(s) under it. Here Zoo med 75watt basking bulb is above her.

Hope I helped a little, or atleast gave some ideas, good luck
Holly & Myah

 

[Bobbijo2u]

Thanks for the help. I have the same branch I have everything under the lights. I am ready to give up. This viv is very tall so I will try adding levels or just smash it and build another.

 

[morphmom]

That sounds like alot of work. :bleick: Do you have a pic of your viv :?:

 

[Bobbijo2u]

I took another pic but for some reason my brain and phot bucket are not communicating today. I can't seem to upload. Right now all of lights are in the one area

 

[morphmom]

It looks so clean! I think it would be a real shame to scrap it. Gosh, darn! This one has me stumped! I don't get it because my viv is all glass. My lights are way different though because I like the hood style.


That one hood has 3ceramic sockets, one 24inch tube light fixture and one outlet for accessories like waterfalls (never used the outlet )

 

[Bobbijo2u]

I think the issue is the thickness of the glass. It is very thin. Not like aquarium glass. And ya ...I keep it pretty clean

 

[vampy]

Personally, rather than scrapping it, I'd buy some polystyrene sheeting, the same stuff people use for making fake rock backgrounds, and paint/varnish it, then stick it to 3 sides and the bottom of the tank, and maybe the top too. The extra insulation should make a big difference, and it'll be a lot cheaper than either buying/building a new enclosure, or doing something similar with wood. You wouldn't even have to glue it to the viv itself if you were careful, you could just stick it to itself (no more nails type glue with cocktail sticks for support is the easiest method) and make a little enclosure that the viv could slide right into.

 

[pia2some]

It looks so clean! I think it would be a real shame to scrap it. Gosh, darn! This one has me stumped! I don't get it because my viv is all glass. My lights are way different though because I like the hood style.


That one hood has 3ceramic sockets, one 24inch tube light fixture and one outlet for accessories like waterfalls (never used the outlet )

I have a question about your hood. I think this is the same hood on our snake tank. Our snake tank has a sliding screen top which we took off to use the hood. It's a very heavy hood and it works fine on the sliding tops. We just bought a 40 gallon breeder tank for our beardie. I desperately want another one of these hoods for the beardie tank. But the 40 gallon doesn't have a sliding top. So I'd have to set the hood on top of the existing screen top. I'm trying to decide if that will work and be stable.

This is what we have now on our snake tank:

 

[morphmom]

I have a question about your hood. I think this is the same hood on our snake tank. Our snake tank has a sliding screen top which we took off to use the hood. It's a very heavy hood and it works fine on the sliding tops. We just bought a 40 gallon breeder tank for our beardie. I desperately want another one of these hoods for the beardie tank. But the 40 gallon doesn't have a sliding top. So I'd have to set the hood on top of the existing screen top. I'm trying to decide if that will work and be stable.

Ok, my hood is zoomed's "deluxe sliding hood" Myah's tank is a 40gal but it does not have the sliding top as it opens from the front. The zoomed hood gives you two brackets that "clamp" the hood to the tank while still letting you slide the whole thing. Myah doesn't have screen under her hood because of the brackets. I'd check to see if your brand has the brackets, and if not, I'd price compare for the zoomed. I've gotten alot of question about my hood so I think I'm going to take alot of pics and post all of the info on Myah's thread. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions as I don't always make it back to posts.

Personally, rather than scrapping it, I'd buy some polystyrene sheeting, the same stuff people use for making fake rock backgrounds, and paint/varnish it, then stick it to 3 sides and the bottom of the tank, and maybe the top too. The extra insulation should make a big difference, and it'll be a lot cheaper than either buying/building a new enclosure, or doing something similar with wood.

Great idea! I wouldn't do the top as I'd be scared to death it would fall but every other part of the tank is a really smart fix!