daveuk
Warbling Degu
Posts: 38
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Post by daveuk on Sept 13, 2011 10:16:55 GMT
Hello! Im making the leap into building a degu cage! Been reading up on it for a while, but kept on putting it off! Im curious as to how to add lights into the degu cage. Ive seen it mentioned in a few guides, but coulding see anything about how to do it. Any help appreciated  |
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Post by Kat on Sept 13, 2011 10:28:25 GMT
I don't know how much help this is but I use led strips for my hamster cages.
Kat
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Post by Maravilla on Sept 13, 2011 10:39:55 GMT
We use lights which are normally used in kitchens below the wall cupboards (no idea how they are called and if they are available there); a model like this one. As it has 8 W it's only slightly warm. The power cable we protect with metal shower hoses. |
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daveuk
Warbling Degu
Posts: 38
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Post by daveuk on Sept 13, 2011 10:40:11 GMT
Thanks Kat. I was just wondering how they should be fixed into the cage - Although the more I think about it, as long as they cant get to them on the roof, im guessing it should be ok.
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daveuk
Warbling Degu
Posts: 38
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Post by daveuk on Sept 13, 2011 10:41:23 GMT
Thanks Maravilla,
Im guessing you have the light at the top of the cage out of the degus reach, or is it in a reachable area but heavily protected so they cant nibble - If that makes sense!
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Post by Maravilla on Sept 13, 2011 10:53:16 GMT
We have 6 of these lights, some cannot be reached and the one that can is protected, but not as heavily as you might imagine:  |
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daveuk
Warbling Degu
Posts: 38
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Post by daveuk on Sept 13, 2011 10:55:00 GMT
Thats brilliant, thanks Maravilla |
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Post by Kins on Sept 13, 2011 10:55:41 GMT
You can buy self adhesive strips of LED lights like these www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00119419 which you could pass through small holes drilled in the back of the cage just under each shelf and stick them directly to the bottom of each shelf (as long as it would be out of reach of goo paws). If they were within reach you could make a little protective case from mesh to stop the goos being able to nibble them... I actually might do this myself. LEDs emmit very little heat and use very little power. At the moment we just have a desk lamp above the cage but this means that the bottom of the cage is quite dark... |
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Post by Kat on Sept 13, 2011 11:11:36 GMT
Thats the sort of thing I meant. I got them from the fish section on ebay. I have red stick on ones for my hamsters. I can watch them at night but they aren't bothered by red.
Kat
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Post by Kins on Sept 13, 2011 12:00:20 GMT
Thats the sort of thing I meant. I got them from the fish section on ebay. I have red stick on ones for my hamsters. I can watch them at night but they aren't bothered by red. Kat x Great minds think alike ;D ;D |
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daveuk
Warbling Degu
Posts: 38
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Post by daveuk on Sept 13, 2011 13:03:10 GMT
You can buy self adhesive strips of LED lights like these www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00119419 which you could pass through small holes drilled in the back of the cage just under each shelf and stick them directly to the bottom of each shelf (as long as it would be out of reach of goo paws). If they were within reach you could make a little protective case from mesh to stop the goos being able to nibble them... I actually might do this myself. LEDs emmit very little heat and use very little power. At the moment we just have a desk lamp above the cage but this means that the bottom of the cage is quite dark... I like them a lot! They look superb! Thank you |
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Post by Maravilla on Oct 25, 2011 4:26:58 GMT
@ Kins,
thanks for the tip with the led stripes from IKEA!! We bought some and tried them out in some of the levels. It's a very good, indirect light. We are thinking of replacing all of the others lights over the next couple of months.
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Post by Kins on Oct 25, 2011 10:08:02 GMT
@ Kins, thanks for the tip with the led stripes from IKEA!! We bought some and tried them out in some of the levels. It's a very good, indirect light. We are thinking of replacing all of the others lights over the next couple of months. Sounds great! Do you have any pictures? I may have to invest in some and convince the OH to help me add them to the cages... |
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Post by Maravilla on Nov 5, 2011 13:54:42 GMT
@ Kins, sorry for the delay. Here they come. view from inside out  illuminated level, we used the whole metre as the cage is 2m long  |
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 5, 2011 18:54:14 GMT
WOW!!! Excellent illumination!!
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Post by Kins on Nov 6, 2011 9:42:25 GMT
Yeah, looks fab Maravilla. Good work! Thank you for posting the picture!
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Post by pinkhairedelf on Nov 14, 2011 23:05:57 GMT
Thanks for the pic maravilla, We managed to get a set of these lights today for our cage-in-progress
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Post by Bexi87 on Dec 9, 2011 22:40:43 GMT
This may sound stupid, but can the LED lights be plugged into a timer so they come on at certain times?
Also, Maravilla, would you recommend using a strip the entire length of the cage (for example 150cm) or just a couple per level?
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Post by Maravilla on Dec 10, 2011 8:35:02 GMT
Yes, you can use a timer for them. What is not possible is dimming.
The cages where we used these LEDs so far are 200 cm long, and put 100 cm (all 4 stripes of a package) in it. For 150 cm you could use 3-4 stripes, centring them.
You don't have to link them directly stripe per stripe but can leave gaps between them as the connecting cables are quite long (2,5 m) and there are as well short "cables" or plugs of approx. 8 cm which we used. So, all in all, we have 100 cm of light spread over 125 cm.
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Post by fred on Dec 10, 2011 12:13:48 GMT
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