building monitor tank, need lighting ideas

[reptile king]

I'm building my asain water monitors cage, and i need some ideas on the best way to set up the lighting inside so i know it get the right temp, the hole enclosure will be made of plywood, and then sealed and tiled in the inside for easy cleaning, and then it will have a 5 foot sliding door on the front, the size is going to be 3' deep 3' tall and 8' long, and all plywood, except for the sliding glass door on the front, any tips or ideas would be great

[infernalis]

First tip....

Cut a hole big enough then cover it over with heavy duty wire screen, put your light ABOVE that.

Any fixtures inside a monitor enclosure will be at risk of the monitor damaging the light or getting burned from it.

Monitors are very curious, active and rough.

[reptile king]

how many lights should i have in there, should one strong heat lamp be enough for him, cause i want to put two 3' x 3' x 12inches tall, boxes on top for my northern pines, and put the heat lamp beside, cut out with the mash like you suggested, but what about heat on the other side of the enclosure, will that one supply enough heat

[infernalis]

In such a closed in space as you describe, the heat will fill the whole box.

Our Savannah Monitor cage is plenty warm, when he wants more heat he sits directly under his bulb, a 150 watt halogen 24 inches up off the floor.

We also have radiant baseboard heating in our house, so I set his cage next to the heat radiator.

Your circumstances may be a bit different, Just remember, if the bulb is inside the box, monitors can break them, or make contact with the hot lamp and get burned.

Our monitor burned his nose before I moved the light to the outside.