Uvb distance at out of enclosure basking spot

[desmith0719]

My bearded dragon Elliot loves to sit and look out of our window. In fact, he has his very own cat tower to do so. During the summer he sits there a lot with the window and screen open as well as getting a lot of outdoor time in the sun. Last winter I made him a window basking area before he had his cat tower and while it had a basking bulb for heat, it didn’t have any uvb because at the time I didn’t have an extra tube fixture and wasn’t going to use a coil under any circumstances. I tried to limit his time there because of this.

He is very active and loves to be out of his cage watching everything going on outside or running back and forth down the hallway sliding all over the wood flooring I want to create a spot at the window where I can let him sit for extended periods of time and not have to worry as much whether or not he’s getting proper uvb exposure. Let me be clear when I say this that I mean 2-4 hours vs the usual hour i would let him if he didn’t have uvb - I do not mean all day.

Right now I have a basking bulb hanging above the spot as well as an “L” bracket on either side to sit an extra uvb fixture and bulb that I have there. I have T5 uvb 10 tube lights and that is all at the moment. Is it safe to sit that above him unobstructed at 11.5 to 12 inches or do I need it to be further away from him? Or should I get a T8 instead? Or is a uvb light being above him outside of an enclosure not really beneficial and should I just give him limited window time with no uvb?

Any help and suggestions greatly appreciated! I am thinking of doing the same thing at my bedroom window for our 7 month old female beardie as well if this works out. She has the reptisun hood fixture (we have two) for a 40 gallon and he has a biodude reflector fixture for his massive ZenHabitat enclosure. He would be at the wider window and she’d be at a smaller one. Both dragon’s extra fixtures will comfortably sit parallel to the window on “L” brackets above where they would be sitting.

 

[Rubble1212]

My bearded dragon Elliot loves to sit and look out of our window. In fact, he has his very own cat tower to do so. During the summer he sits there a lot with the window and screen open as well as getting a lot of outdoor time in the sun. Last winter I made him a window basking area before he had his cat tower and while it had a basking bulb for heat, it didn’t have any uvb because at the time I didn’t have an extra tube fixture and wasn’t going to use a coil under any circumstances. I tried to limit his time there because of this.

He is very active and loves to be out of his cage watching everything going on outside or running back and forth down the hallway sliding all over the wood flooring I want to create a spot at the window where I can let him sit for extended periods of time and not have to worry as much whether or not he’s getting proper uvb exposure. Let me be clear when I say this that I mean 2-4 hours vs the usual hour i would let him if he didn’t have uvb - I do not mean all day.

Right now I have a basking bulb hanging above the spot as well as an “L” bracket on either side to sit an extra uvb fixture and bulb that I have there. I have T5 uvb 10 tube lights and that is all at the moment. Is it safe to sit that above him unobstructed at 11.5 to 12 inches or do I need it to be further away from him? Or should I get a T8 instead? Or is a uvb light being above him outside of an enclosure not really beneficial and should I just give him limited window time with no uvb?

Any help and suggestions greatly appreciated! I am thinking of doing the same thing at my bedroom window for our 7 month old female beardie as well if this works out. She has the reptisun hood fixture (we have two) for a 40 gallon and he has a biodude reflector fixture for his massive ZenHabitat enclosure. He would be at the wider window and she’d be at a smaller one. Both dragon’s extra fixtures will comfortably sit parallel to the window on “L” brackets above where they would be sitting.

I think 12-14 inches is the distance most of the experienced folks here recommend for the t5 10.0 so if you can get the distance you’d be safe I would think? I know another good option is a Megaray or Arcadia MVB about 12 inches up and then you could just use an adjustable lamp stand and that’s it without having a basking light and the t5 fixture while he’s out of his enclosure. It’d be a investment to make upfront but if you only use the MVB for a few hours a day you get at least a couple of years out of those bulbs just estimating you’d need a solar meter but I’ve heard some people getting a couple of years out those bulbs using them 12 hours a day. Then you can have your setup in the main enclosure with the t5 and an MVB in a lamp stand for outside time and not have to switch anything back and forth. Just my two cents.