lighting huge cage

[threenice]

yes i was wondering how i will light my huge indoor leopard tortoise table (12 ft by 12 ft) people say i should have only one uva/uvb and heat bulb would this be too small or should i add something like tub lights from the ceiling or add another uvb/uva heat bulb? sorry for the length lol

 

[Yvonne G]

Right - you really only need one GOOD UVB light. But then for lighting over the rest of the space you can use plain old 100 watt incandescent bulbs. DO NOT USE those darned compact fluorescent bulbs.

 

[leigti]

Wow, that's great that you have such a huge indoor enclosure. Is it on the floor are up higher? Because you could hang lights from the ceiling. do you have a picture of it to give us an idea? I'm not an expert but if it was me I would want more than one UVB light fixture, I would want to have at least two or maybe even three. do you want to use a mercury vapor bulb or long strip lights? I think the long lights would provide UVB over a larger area of the enclosure over all. i've seen them up to 48 inches long. Is this a close chamber, is this for adults juveniles or babies? How do you plan on heating it or are you just heating the entire room?

 

[threenice]

i am still building it and it will be for a baby, half of the enclosure will be growing weeds and will have plants for hides. For heating i plan on using Yvonne Gs idea for the incandescent bulbs. And the cage will sit on the floor if yo have any other ideas please let me know

 

[threenice]

And Also part of the grazing area will be restricted until i can get them established

 

[leigti]

Baby leopards will need a great deal of humidity and heat. This is easiest with a close chamber, it will be extremely difficult to keep humidity and heat in an enclosure that large without closing it up.

 

[threenice]

is there another way to raise the humidity without changing the whole setup?

 

[wellington]

I would keep,your leopard in a much smaller area then a 12 foot square enclosure for the first couple years to give it a closed chamber. Unless you put a cover on this whole enclosure. If you build a high enough top on it, you can put all the lighting inside and have the high humidity. Use pvc to build supports to drape plastic over. Then you could hang the lights from the pvc.
You could also block him from going into half of it until he is older and making a smaller humid section for him to stay in. Then when he is older, open up the humid section to the rest of the enclosure and give him the choice of humid or not,

 

[pfara]

This is what I did with a table to keep it humid. The idea is like turning a sandbox into a greenhouse.

I'm liking the 12x12' idea. If I had the space, I probably would be crazy enough to do that, too The only issue I see with something that giant that I encounter with my 9x6' enclosure is reaching things (like poop) in the middle. When I got my hatchlings, I cut my enclosure in half and grew plants in the back section, too. You can pull off a high humidity table. It just won't be as efficient as a closed chamber.

 

[threenice]

thanks for the reply's 12 by 12 is a bit much for a baby leopard but I'm not sure how to make a closed chamber

 

[leigti]

thanks for the reply's 12 by 12 is a bit much for a baby leopard but I'm not sure how to make a closed chamber

What is the room like that you are building this in? Is it just one gigantic room? been able to reach every bit of it is important, what if your tortoise flipped over and you couldn't reach the middle? maybe build a L shape or you shape enclosure around the walls of the room maybe three or 4 feet wide. you could make it a type of close chamber if you hung the lights from the ceiling and also the plastic to keep in the heat and humidity. but I think for now if you're just getting a little hatchling you can put off the plans for the bigger table until later. you can use a Christmas tree box, a large tote like a 55 gallon one from Home Depot. There are a couple posts were people have built a 4 x 4 enclosure with a plastic garden bed and a greenhouse attachment on top. look in the closed chamber section and it might be there. that way it is 90% built for you and all you have to do is add the lights. it is a great enclosure, keep looking in the enclosures section and see if you can find it and I will too.

 

[bouaboua]

I will love to see some photo of this 12 ft X 12 ft indoor enclosure.......

WOW 12 X 12. Impressive...