# Exo Terra UV Setup, Basking Bulb Guide Tutorial (No Mesh Cuts, Picture Heavy)



## Neoni (Mar 25, 2010)

Hi Guys,

I had a private message today asking about my setup, and how to hang basking bulbs and uv without destroying the mesh...

so i thought id share how i did it, if anybody is interested! Its Dead Simple!

*Introduction*

So id done plenty of research on my beardie, and decided i wanted to go with an Exo Terra Terrarium when she was only small, so i ordered one.

When it turned up, i then realised it might have been a bad choice due to the fact of i didnt want to cut my tank up etc just incase i ever wanted to sell it!

I mounted the tube first thing when it came, but then realised it wasnt going to be very good coverage, especially with a reflector, i didnt want the baby climbing the backwall and all over the tube, plus it was too high, so i realised if i lowered it, im losing all the wall space, which i paid for, so what was the point in buying the exo terra in the first place?

this is what it originally looked like:










And i think this is how alot of people would originally hang there UV, but its too high, and i didnt wany the beardie to get above it, plus i wasnt keen on the bulb hanging against the polystyrene rock wall.

so this is how i did it.

you will need!

*Requirements: (all available from B&Q)
*
1 x 1Metre of thin chain
4 x Small Hooks/Hoops
1 x UV Reflector (and of course UVB Bulb)
1 x Knife/Nail (and a heat source to heat blade)
1 x Hammer and Nail (Aswell as a piece of wood)

oh and a pencil or chalk 


*Setup:*

So you have your mesh lid, take this off now you see the 4 mesh sections at the top, and you have the crossroad of plastic in the middle (the spines to keep it rigid) now the longest spine the length of the viv, this is what we will be melting pinholes into! to mount the UV tube.. 

*The Mesh Lid:
*
1. Measuring: Get your reflector, and use this for guidance, and measurement, so flip your lid over, and place the reflector down the middle spine so its about in the middle, equal space either side of the lid so its dead centre (roughly), now mark with a pencil! the furthest point on the left, and the right, this is where we will be putting the holes!

2. Burning/Cutting: i did this with either taking a hot knife, or nail, it might take you a few attempts to get through the spine but keep doing this, it needs to be a big enough hole to get your hooks through, once done mount your hooks!

the top lid should look like this now on either side (this is a finished product):










As you can see its pretty much dead centre of the spine from top to bottom!

*The Reflector!*

So now we need to hang the reflector right?

this is how i did it, again right on the edge of the reflector you need two holes again for hooks! this is the bit that worried me but it was dead easy as you'll see!

1. get a block of wood and place this on the floor, next get your reflector, and place this so the U curve is facing upwards, otherwise your going to just destroy the reflector, so the reflector is facing upwards! the wood is so your not going to damage floor, and its also going to sink into the wood while tapping.

2. now get a nail and slowly tap a pinpoint for the hole, do this gradually it might take a few attempts, but dont over do it, remember it needs to be a nice snug fit so it can hang freely, and you havent got a big haping hole! it needs to be close enough to the edge of the reflector too so the hook can hang over the edge!

Finished product again should look like this:










as you can see the hooks fit nicely! and now you guessed it cut your metre worth of chain to a decent equal length each piece needs to be the same length! otherwise its going to be squewiff! reason for so much chain, depending on the size of your terrarium, is you can adjust the height, as you see fit like this (mine still needs tidying):










with the chain fully extended in my viv it looked like this:











and thats pretty much it for the uv tube, the cable just runs up the top of the mesh lid and out the holes at the back of the Exo terra 



*Basking Bulb:*

Same thing for the basking bulb i know alot of people place the bulb on top of the mesh, but get melted lids etc so this is again another quick tutorial of how i did mine.

Now for this its whatever i could lay my hands on in this case i got an old camcorder tripod, and broke the legs off! so they were adjustable! but you could have a hollow piece of tubing cut to the depth of your vivarium!

all i did with this, hammered the end of the tubing to make it flat because of the lid otherwise your lid wouldn't sit properly in place it'd be raised! also due to the plastic spines we've just modified the tube wouldnt go in because of this so i had to slight curve the tube so its in a slight u shape which you will see in a bit! so at the front of the viv, i rested it on the plastic lip where the lid sits, so the lid sits snugly down on top of this at the front, but at the back i wanted the lid to sit properly as i didnt want it sliding etc, so i wedged it between the lip and the polystyrene wall so in effect it looks like this (it might sound very rough and ready but it looks neat and works wonderfully):










to hold it in place you can just hang the cable as much or as little as you want, and securely tie wrap it in place, ive checked all mine for safety, and its strong as an ox 

and thats about it and the top mesh looks like this: (not damage whatsoever or cut marks!)










and my finished viv:











hope this helps anyone, trying to mount lighting in there Exo Terra

-Neoni


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## darwin2 (Mar 20, 2010)

looks awesome, well done


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## radicaldave (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks for this mate much appreciated. I was looking to do something similar it really is a good modification will give it a go and if i can get it anywhere near this standard will post some pics thankyou :2thumb:


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