melamine enclosure's

[lenglish27]

I would like to purchase/build a melamine enclosure for Hiccup. If anyone can give insight on lighting options for the basking area that would be great. I am using a MVB and a repti sun 10.0 right now. Also if there are any pictures of personal set ups please feel free to post !!!!!! I'm looking at boamaster right now because he's within driving distance but no one will get back to me. Needless to say I'm not too excited about possibly having to fork out for shipping. Thanks for the help

 

[drzebra]

Just out of curiosity, why use 2 UVB sources?

 

[jarich]

Melamine is ok, you just have to make sure and seal the edges/corners very well. Slightest little bit of moisture and its toast. Unfortunately it doesnt handle moving around much at all, but not sure if thats a problem for you or not.

As for the lighting, it will really depend on the dimensions and layout of your enclosure. How high are you making it?

 

[julescoffman]

Here is enclosure we made Si,and it was not expensive.

 

[julescoffman]

Jarich,I have question for you,is your enclosure have screened area at the top? Hard to tell in pic,but looks like it is? If it is,do you have any problems with keeping humidy normal?

 

[jarich]

The top of the enclosure has a solid wood top, but screen around all the sides. Humidity isnt an issue for these animals except in the extremes or when the heat/ventilation is an issue. They live in areas in the wild with averages of anywhere from 20% to 65% humidity, so it shows that they are quite able to adapt to just about any humidity levels without issue. I think thats one of the main reasons why they are so able to thrive in captivity. They are able to adapt to many different environmental conditions, unlike most lizards. The only time they start to have problems is either when the humidity gets too low or when there is not enough heat. Having a proper basking area of around 110 F, and some simple air vents means you shouldnt have to worry about the humidity levels. In fact, Id go as far as to say that the only worry really is that the air can get too dry for them sometimes. Our houses in the winter are usually around 5-15% relative humidity. Thats really low even for arid environments. Its another reason why I have bioactive soil in all my enclosures. The animals can naturally burrow, and so have an area where the humidity is higher, thus conserving their moisture levels if they need to.

 

[julescoffman]

Thanks for info! We have a problem with his getting too low,his grate at top is bigger than normal screens,so gotta keep towels covering most of top to keep humidity at 20 plus mist cage few times a day.

 

[jarich]

Wow, your house gets that low in the south in the summer? Figured you were like us and had high humidity in the summertime. Im lucky if I can keep my room under 70% rH in the summer!

 

[julescoffman]

Very high humidity here,that's what I don't understand,we keep the house pretty cool,not sure if that has anything to do with it,I had to buy a humidifier and put on top of his enclosure! Vet said its too hot,but his temps are 108 on basking side and 82 on cool side,so I don't know! But keeping top covered up keeps it up a little.

 

[julescoffman]

I will say when he was in 55gal aquarium it was hard to keep it under 65-70,but since building his enclosure it wants to drop,could it be too insulated,we spray foamed the whole back and bottom of his enclosure before grouting,and painting? All I know is I go home at lunch to feed and check his humidity every day because I don't want him to dehydrate..

 

[jarich]

Your temperatures sound fine, no problems there. Its odd that your lighting is able to reduce your humidity that much. How are you measuring your humidity? Have you calibrated it lately?

 

[julescoffman]

A temp\humidity gage from PETsMART,soon as I mist it goes straight up to bout 55-60,then bout 1hr later back down to 10

 

[julescoffman]

I use temp gun for hot and cool side,plus have digital one that stays in there,so I know temps are accurate.

 

[jarich]

And where is the gauge at in the enclosure?

Its hard to say with those things, but they are often off by a fair bit, even if its showing the increase when you spray. If you want to take it out and do whats called the salt test on it, then you can find out how accurate it is. Its pretty simple to do. Just look up 'hygrometer salt test calibration' on Google or youtube and there are lots of videos on how to do it

 

[julescoffman]

Ok I'll try that,there is one right in middle and one on cool side

 

[julescoffman]

Is there a better one to get? So I know it stays accurate.

 

[jarich]

There are digital ones you can get, which seem to be better than the analog ones, but hygrometers are notorious for going out of calibration. The best ones are ones that can simply be recalibrated after they become inaccurate. The gauge ones like you have are essentially disposable as they cant be recalibrated once they become off.

 

[julescoffman]

Ok I'll go get good one,thank you so much for your help