Glass Enclosure

    here i will show how to set up a glass enclosure the right way. using foam to insulate the sides, and foil to insulate the top. limiting ventilation will increase humidity and increase ambient temp.

    the reason glass enclosures do not work well is because glass does not hold in heat well. our dragons need warmth threw out their enclosure. melamine wooden enclosures insulate the heat much better. glass enclosures are also more often then not, screen topped. the screen allows far to much heat and humidity to escape. placeing lamps on top of the screen also means that about 60% of the lamp's heat isnt even being used. this is not energy efficient. the best choise would be to build a wooden melamine enclosure and mount the lamps on the inside, there for you get 100% of the lamps heat, this way you can reduce the amount of wattage you need for enclosures. a 20 gallon 15x30x12 inch glass enclosure runs about 120 watts of power (shown below) where as a 4x3x2 enclosure runs 150w of power for an area about 6 times larger. because the larger enclosure is well insulated and limited ventilation with the lights mounted on the inside, as well as wall mounted from the sides. please view Wood Enclosures for more info and also wiring page for a how-2.

    there are a few different foams you can use, here i am using typical styrofoam which is pressed balls of foam. other insulation foams can be found in the insulation isle of your local hardware store. a 4x8 foot sheet of the light blue foam is a great idea for larger then 20 gallon tanks. it can be cut down at the store with a blade, and transported home easily. it is much easier to cut and less messy. but for this project i am using 18x48  sheets of 1/2 inch foam

measure your foam and make a shallow cut with a retractable blade

using your hands bend the foam at the cut line

using some vinyl or aluminum tape, tape the foam to the tank

place the uvb lamp on top. notice how dark the enclosure is , only using a uvb lamp.

use a clamp lamp and a 50w par 20 bulb for the basking spot on a 20 gallon tank. place it directly above the climbing/basking branch

here is the enclosure with a 50w par 20 halogen bulb and the uvb bulb. notice how dark it is still....

notice that the lamp is directly above the basking branch, and that the branch is at about a 45 degree angle

next, using a larger clamp lamp install your 65w incandescent flood light bulb (not halogen)

this lamp will increase over all ambient temp gently with out adding another hot basking spot. place it on the side of the enclosure AWAY from climbing branches.

your enclosure is now bright enough to keep even a frilled dragon happy!!!

start applying foil to the top, avoid covering the uvb light fixture as well as the lamps. you can over lap the lamp's metal housing but do not cover the vent holes for the lamp.

cover about 85-95% of the enclosure like so:

this is a great "baby frilled dragon" enclosure. frilled dragons up to about 12 inches can be housed in here. frilled dragons over 14 inches will need a larger enclosure, preferably 36x18x18 exo-terra with the same foam and foil set up.

100-150 gallon tanks are not ideal since they are not tall enough. frilled dragons are arboreal they enjoy being up 3-4 feet of the ground .  5 feet tall may be to tall and may cause injury from falling. 4 foot tall is plenty.

all i have in this tank, paper towel as substrate, a branch, and a water dish. this is not an enclosure i am using, this is an enclosure set up for tutorial purposes only . this is BARE minimum you should have in an enclosure. some added branches and a food dish could be used as well as some greenery. you can also use cocohusk (ecoearth) for frilled dragons over 14 inches long if using a feeding dish.

mist often and monitor temperatures.

to monitor temperatures accurately please visit www.tempgun.com and purchase a pe-2 temp gun (can be purchased off ebay or amazon as well)