How to Add U.V. Lighting to Your Reptile Racks!
When it comes to racks and rack systems for housing snakes and some other species of reptiles, there can be many benefits and advantages for both the animal and the keeper. These include being able to have a more cost and space-efficient setup and form of housing, and which that are much easier to clean and sanitize. Another advantage to these forms of housing are that they can provide greater or added comfort and security for many different species of snakes or other reptiles, while also being able to better hold or retain-in heat and humidity in which many species require in order to do well.
One major drawback, or disadvantage, however, which have been traditionally affected and associated with these forms of enclosures or housing, is the (usually) lack of space able to be able to add or incorporate U.V. lighting. While not all reptiles may absolutely need or *require* U.V. lighting in order to do well or to survive, providing it can still greatly benefit their overall health and welfare, if one is able to do so. So how can one implement U.V. lighting into their reptile racks or other forms of compact housing or enclosures?
Luckily, there are still some things you can do if you are looking to add U.V. lighting to your reptile racks, much of which will depend on which species, or kinds of animals one may be keeping specifically, as well as the rack or enclosure material, brand, or design, and what one’s day/night cycles may be. Most of these options are still probably going to be D.I.Y. (Do-it-Yourself) designs, as U.V. lighting has yet to be made widely available or implemented in most of the new or commercially available racks for reptiles. However, if one is considering it, you may be able to use some of the more compact mini LED panels, or LED strip-lighting. LEDs convert much of their energy into simply white lights (or other colored lights), but can still generate small amounts of U.V. as well. Likewise, ambient lighting from the room or area of the house or facility in which your reptile may be kept may be sufficient as well, provided your reptile is not otherwise in pitch darkness, and small amounts of U.V. are still able to penetrate and enter the enclosure, for animals which are only going to require low-U.V. anyway, such as for snakes.
LED Strip Lighting
Check out some D.I.Y. videos on YouTube of various setups and designs for ideas we’ve been able to find on this topic!
Installing LED Lights in a Reptile Rack - YouTube-An example for blue-tongued skinks, but can also work well for leopard or fat-tailed geckos, or even snakes.
DIY Demo: Reptile Rack for Monitors and Dragons - YouTube
REPTILE RACK!! | Lighting Setup and Updates (youtube.com)
Some examples of bearded dragon racks (*note that an open-top design such as these are fine for some terrestrial lizards as long as they cannot climb up to, or have anything in the enclosure that they can climb on, to reach the top):
RAPTOR REPTLES: Building a Baby Rack (youtube.com)
How I make my baby rack. (youtube.com)
Bearded Dragon Baby / Hatchling Rack Setup (youtube.com)