Glass Finger Grips and Light

[slideaboot]

OK...so I've gone ahead and ordered 4 pieces of tempered glass for the cage I'm having the students build (which is looking good). I ordered some nice showcase tracking (little pricey, but I like the smoothness of the glide). Now...they wanted $17 a piece to grind finger grips into the glass--which I vetoed. I'm assuming (see: PRAYING) that there is some sort of finger grip with a really strong adhesive that I can affix to the glass? You guys know anything about this?

And...

The cage I'm having build is 8' X 3' x 30" (high)---basically two, four-foot boxes screwed together. I'm planning on a 160watt Powersun for basking, but, since the cage is so large, I want to have other light in the cage for the simple sake of having light--for display/viewing purposes. I'm considering putting a couple flourescent lights up (like a two-footer on each side of the cage)...Does this sound OK?

Is there anything else I should consider? I'm thinking I should probably have another heat source(I'm thinking: ceramic heat emitter) somewhere else in the cage to maintain a nice thermal gradient in the cage.

Thanks, dudes!

 

[Biascochea]

you could always just buy some small grips at a home improvement store and glue them with something like Gorilla Glue, that stuff will hold forever. I used it to glue my rearview mirror back onto my windshield.

 

[slideaboot]

That idea had crossed my mind.

Any other ideas?

 

[james.w]

Coldbloodedcages.com has glass door handles.

 

[blackjack41]

Finger pulls, Local glass shops. Got mine free from a "hole in the wall" glass shop. Same finger pulls you would get online for nearly $7 shipping included. Ask the shop you got the tempered glass from, they might have some.

 

[slideaboot]

Finger pulls, Local glass shops. Got mine free from a "hole in the wall" glass shop. Same finger pulls you would get online for nearly $7 shipping included. Ask the shop you got the tempered glass from, they might have some.

Yeah, I asked them. Like I said, they only offer the ground-in pulls that run $17 a shot. They recommended online searching and / or home depot kinda places.

 

[Rhetoric]

If you can I'd have an extra fixture or two put in there anyway (if they're mounted). Its a lot easier to do it before all the substrate and stuff is dumped in there. What kind of bulb are you planning to heat it with?

 

[slideaboot]

Alexi-

That's a great idea. The fixtures aren't expensive and it WOULD be nice to have them, even if I don't use them. As far as heat, I'm a Powersun guy--probably 160W, used in conjunction with a ceramic heat emitter.

I'd love to be able to light the rest of the cage (purely for light, mind you, for viewing), with a couple flourescent tubes. Whadya think?

 

[james.w]

I put two fixtures on one side for a mvb and something else. And on the other side a 4' flourescent fixture for ambient light and maybe a tube UVB.

 

[RamblinRose]

Here is a link to the ones like I use. Only $1.90 each. The glass panels can slide right over them without interference. I use the Translucent ones.
http://www.allglassparts.com/product/403925/400215

 

[Rhetoric]

I put two fixtures on one side for a mvb and something else. And on the other side a 4' flourescent fixture for ambient light and maybe a tube UVB.

Thats how my larger males enclosure is. The 4' fixture has one UVB and one florescent bulb, I have another 4' fixture but I can't use it until I fix the wiring for my MVB fixture.
The 2 bulbs in the 4' are more than enough to keep that half of the enclosure bright. The fluorescents are pretty cheap too!

 

[montana]

Try it without the pulls ...

you may not even miss them ...

 

[jondancer]

What is nice showcase tracking? Where did you get it?
Thanks

 

[james.w]

Try it without the pulls ...

you may not even miss them ...

+1

With the showcase track, the glass slides really smooth so you may not need handles.

 

[slideaboot]

What is nice showcase tracking? Where did you get it?
Thanks

Showcase tracking is the kind of tracking that stores use for their glass display cases. It's expensive as hell, but really glides easily. The same place I ordered the tempered glass had the tracking.

 

[slideaboot]

Thanks guys! Lotta good ideas here.