Habitat - Indoor :: Basking setup I'm in DIRE need of help

[focus12221]

What do people think about using poplar for the wood, also the heat lamp wont affect the plexi will it? The wood is not in the water remember do does it matter all that much?

[mcghee.kevin]

I dont think the heat will affect it cause my gf has an iguana cage with a cover that made of plexi with a 200 watt heat lamp 6 inches from it. Your lights gonna be farther away and probably not 200 watts.

Also dont put anything pressure treated near ur turtle as per the first post, casue presurestreated wood is toxic to humans so it would be bad for them too. And find out if any of these woods have had anit sap stain chemicals sprayed on them, if they have you will need to run them through a planer

[focus12221]

I will have a 75Watt bulb about 11in or so, I did some trial and errors and figured it will make it 93 F if its about 11in just about perfect, (right?) I am leaning to use a poplar that is not pressure treated and it more than likely will be sanded all over to make it smooth and nice and remove anything thats on it, what should I use as something textured? everyone says to have the basking spot textured so the little guy can dry off his pastron, so any ideas on any of this....

So far its going to be a poplar box thats sanded and for the bottom it will be plexiglass that rest on a lip thats around the box, the ramp will be made by cutting a corner and bending it down with a heat gun.... maybe some support bars that run through the middle of the plexi. With the basking light and uvb/uva lights on top, can the heat lamp be at an angle or no? If not is it ok that the uvb/ uva is a tube light that will run next to the heat lamp.

[mcghee.kevin]

I will try to explain what Ive done. I built my pine box, and only 1/3rd of the box has a bottom, this is the platform, then I bent a ramp out and down at a 45 degree 10 inches.

My little guy was used to having a beach in his tank as a basking spot to crawl out on so I decided to use alternating rows large and small river rocks, glued them down to the epoxy to serve two purposes, one to allow him somthing to grab onto and pull himself along with and to dry out.. because of the different heights the air can get under amongst other things. if you were looking at it it would look somthing like this:
OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO
oOoOoOoOo
OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO

[focus12221]

I have the larger river rocks right now so that would work perfect, will any kind of glue or epoxy work or is there anything to look out for, is this what you used for the ramp as well?

[mcghee.kevin]

Also as far as the lights I know the little guy needs to be in the UVB light as far as the heat light, well as long as the areas heated. In mine right now the lights directly over top and the UVB lamp with a repti-glo 10.0 is pointed at an angle onto the spot.

If you are having trouble with the heat light heres my suggestion use a dimmer to adjust the temp of the area. You can buy them at stores (ive seem them at canadian tire if you live in canada) but I made my own simply because I refused to pay 20 bucks for somthing I could make cheaper (i used a 6 dollar dimmer switch from home depot and as a constriction worker I have access to old outlet boxes and wire from renovations we do, I just added it to the box with some plugs and presto a 6.99 dimmer and I just put a thermometer in the basking area and dialed the temperature in, used a marker to make lines and marks for 80-95 degrees. Just

[mcghee.kevin]

Yup once I had the ramp bent to the angle I wanted and mounted it, I took it off and glued them on. I am not sure what I used, I forget, but I would assume anything would work, epoxy would be my first choice...Aquarium silicone?

[focus12221]

for bending it should I use a torch or heat gun ...? and can the heat lamp be at an angle??

[mcghee.kevin]

Use a heat gun, its just the right temp. Torch will ruin the plastic. As long as the lamps heating up to 90ish degrees it dont matter the angle

[N4784N R4613]

Yes, the heat bulb can be at an angle. All it does is heat the basking spot, there are no special rays, so it can be at an angle, as long as it is heating the basking spot to 93F. It's the UVB bulb that shouldn't be at an angle. UVB rays travel up, and down(vertical), so they don't go to far left or right(horizontal).

[focus12221]

Thank you very much! Anyone have ideas for texture other than river rocks? they're a little big for the ramp I think!

[focus12221]

My UVB light is a tube light .. so wouldnt the rays go all over because its not directed anywhere? As long as its within 12" (its going to be about 8in)

[BATMANandROBIN]

what about these pictures? im going to be building an outside basking area too.

[focus12221]

what is used for the mesh material? ... this is the picture that originally gave me the idea actually, i saw it in the gallery! I was thinking about is and saw no reason it couldnt be over the entire tank, im going to use plexi so there is still light in the tank (for the bottom)

[grey goose]

NEVER use pressure treated wood anywhere near your aquarium! It contains arsenic, very bad for your turt (and you).
Oak, pine, poplar, as long as it is untreated and used above the waterline and is sanded and stained and then sealed with a couple of coats of polyurethane, is all good.