Too close to uvb?

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Soozn79

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I know there are a lot of lighting questions so I'm sorry if this is repeating any but I couldn't find any threads that addressed my specific situation.

We have had our beardie almost 2 weeks now. (Unsure of age; he's about 13" long.) He's in a 36"x18"x12" terrarium. Mesh top with a bright white basking bulb (far left side) that produces appropriate temps for the tank. The uvb is a 24" ReptiSun 10.0 T5 HO. Sits right up next to the basking lamp and runs the length of the rest of the tank (covers about 2/3 of it).

I know that these are strong enough to sit outside the tank on top of the mesh and still be powerful enough to get uv inside. However, our little guy has decided to spend his non-basking time sitting on top of his hide (which is a cat scratcher i got from Target - see pic below).
So when he's on top of his hide, his head (depending on where exactly he is) can be about 3" from the uvb bulb.
The closest distance is about 11" from his basking spot but sitting on the hide puts him much closer.

I got the low tank because I wanted him to be closer to his lighting but now I'm worried about him being too close to it. Can someone verify if this is too close or if it's ok? Should I place the hood on brackets mounted above the tank to increase the distance? (I hate to take his scratcher/hide away. He's been using the rough side to help his shedding.) Should I just use the regular non-HO lights? I really don't have the room to hang it inside the tank though so I need one that can sit on top.

Tank pic:
https://ibb.co/bvHXwv


Thanks for reading :)
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

He certainly looks comfortable there! LOL
These lights produce pretty decent UVB but not overly strong recently. Just to be on the safe side,
maybe you should raise it just a little, not much, if he is going to be sitting on the log as he is fairly
often.
It looks bright enough, so it would probably be fine where it's at since it's on top of the screen & the
screen will filter out some of the UVB. Has he shown any issues like closing his eyes any, or avoiding
the light at all?

Tracie
 

Soozn79

Member
Original Poster
He closes his eyes every now and then but he definitely doesn't avoid it. He's up there quite a lot!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Well, use your judgement then! If he has plenty of bright light, then since it's on top of the screen
it will likely be fine. Especially if he isn't showing any ill effect right now. Just watch him for any
eye problems or him avoiding the area underneath of the tube bulb.

Tracie
 
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