Solarmeters

Oh...

One important piece of information is needed.
Does your UVB fixture have a reflector?

Yep. It's one of the fixtures from lightyourreptiles.

Great, thanks again.

At 1pm on an overcast day I just measured 2.6 outside @74 degrees. Dundee has chosen a spot away from his basking area that is getting about 1.8-2.0 @ 90.5 degrees.

Good stuff.
Keep posting, I'm reading.

I'm not sure if you guys have read this one: http://arcadia-reptile.com/safe-lighting-bearded-dragon/
This thread came to mind so I wanted to share with you guys.

Another good read. Thanks for posting it. It kind of confirms what I've been finding in that the T8 output really is too low. According to that, even the output at Dundee's basking site is too low, although I could argue that since the UV exposure from the sun changes throughout the day, a lower consistent UV reading in the tank may be better than consistently high. I still need to get some readings on a nice sunny day. It has been cloudy here since I got the meter. At the moment it's raining and I'm measuring .3 which is about what I was getting in late evening.

CooperDragon":tc9mocwj said:

Another good read. Thanks for posting it. It kind of confirms what I've been finding in that the T8 output really is too low. According to that, even the output at Dundee's basking site is too low, although I could argue that since the UV exposure from the sun changes throughout the day, a lower consistent UV reading in the tank may be better than consistently high. I still need to get some readings on a nice sunny day. It has been cloudy here since I got the meter. At the moment it's raining and I'm measuring .3 which is about what I was getting in late evening.

Click to expand...

I think that really depends on how you furnish your habitat the author mentions that as well - that T8 lighting really almost necessitates the lack of hides/shade whereas with T5 lights they should be encouraged.

It's my personal take on it that we should give the dragon the opportunity to have a resource but not mandate it's use. The high power lighting really gives us more options as keepers since now we can provide a wider range of microclimates. Pepper photoregulates a lot more now with the T5 lighting. He will "bask" either completely or partly under the cover of his basking rock where the heat is still significant but the UVB is reduced. He also perches happily at his UVI 6 area.

I'm not sure how able bodied Dundee is, not all setups are applicable to all dragons. Ones with disabilities or convalescing probably need special consideration to their environment too.

Also, these critters are from an incredibly UV intense area. Keeping in mind it is winter in Australia today's UVI estimate is around 5-9 across the wild habitat. The summer index is 11-14+. Even in the morning/afternoon when dragons will do more of their basking the values are going to be higher than we may expect.
http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/uv-index/index.jsp

It makes the .5-.8 reading I was getting from the ReptiSun seem pitiful. I'm going to remove the mesh top from my tank to provide some more intense UVB and see how Dundee reacts. He has two good hides where he can be completely out of the light and some good basking surfaces although everything is still relatively low. He has started to show some more energy and is moving around so I'll probably increase his climbing items soon (which will get him closer to the higher UVI areas). I've noticed that he moves around more during the day. He is sometimes in his hot basking spot, and sometimes in the middle at around 93 and right under the UVB light. Last weekend I saw him go in his hides quite a bit but hasn't since then.

It's great his activity is improving and he is getting stronger.

Seeing what my setup was measuring at was sort of embarrassing. My turning point was this spring when the sun finally came out and my cage seemed so dark in comparison, the solarmeter was the nail in the coffin. Lol.

I was getting... 1-1.5 from my T8 reptisun I think. I wonder of yours was defective? 0.5 is just dismal.

It sucks that the solarmeters are so expensive. They really are a valuable tool and helps take the guess work out of things.

It's possibly a defective bulb or underpowered fixture (Zilla slimline). I just use it as a light for the travel tank now. The Solarmeters really are a great tool. At least those of us who have them can take some general measurements to help people with similar lighting/tanks dial in their equipment.

I am so glad I got the Solar Meter 6.5, takes out all the guess work and I've been able to get a lot more time out of my UVB lights, it really is amazing and a big money saver.

I bought my Solar Meter at http://www.lightyourreptiles.com and they are actually on sale. Don't regret one cent.

Oh wow, I didn't even realize they sold those. That's a great price too!

I agree that it's a great price, I had shopped around too.

I just picked mine up directly from Solartech $259 shipped. Still worth it in my opinion. I want to put this thing to as much good use as I can.

I just remembered I have a couple of "old" Zilla Desert 50 bulbs. One I discarded after 6 months, the other was a few months old when I swapped in a ReptiSun 10.0 (which has a little over 1 month of use). I figured it was a good time to put them to the test against my ReptiSun. The results are startling and make me think that my bulb is defective.

No Screen:
ReptiSun 10.0 --- 6''-1.1, 8''-0.8
Desert 50 #1 --- 6''-4.1, 8''-3.0
Desert 50 #2 --- 6''-6.7, 8''-4.9
Arcadia T5 --- 6''-11.2, 8''-9.4

Screen:
ReptiSun 10.0 --- 6''-0.5, 8''-0.3
Desert 50 #1 --- 6''-1.7, 8''-1.3
Desert 50 #2 --- 6''-2.4, 8''-1.9
Arcadia T5 --- 6''-4.1, 8''-3.6

I also found that the Arcadia T5 is inconsistent along the length of the bulb. I have a 34'' bulb and found that at 10'' the output is highest in the center of the bulb. I measured readings from 2.7, 5.4, 3.8. I didn't notice this variation with the 18'' T8 bulbs.

I want to pick up a brand new ReptiSun 10.0 (and maybe a new Desert 50) and try this again to compare outputs.