Beardy attacking UVB Lamp

[Mildew]

Just wondering why Barf is attacking his UVB tube light? He has three different UVB Lamps in his enclosure, but for some reason he keeps jumping up and clawing at one of the bulbs. It's always the same one. I had to remove the platform underneath so he couldn't reach it as I was worried he would either break it, or damage his eyes from being too close.
Does anyone else have this problem? I'm new to all this UVB stuff, so maybe I'm doing something wrong . The lamp in question was about 8 inches from the platform, but since removing the platform it's now 12 inches away. Is this still an ok distance? He still tries to jump up at it, but can't reach it anymore.

 

[CooperDragon]

If the bulb is a T8, then 12'' is too far to be all that effective. It's not good that he kept trying to get to it though. A better solution for you may be a T5 which will work very well at 12-18'' or switching over to a good mercury vapor bulb which would also be effective at a further distance. If changing bulbs isn't an option, is there a way you can mount/suspend the light at 6-8'' where he can't access it? Maybe suspend it in the center of the tank rather than along a wall?

 

[Mildew]

They are the T8 bulbs. Unfortunately the fixture only allows for wall mounting, but I could probably rig something up where it hangs in the middle. He would probably still jump up to get it, but at least he hopefully wouldn't be able to stand there and keep pawing at it.
I don't quite understand why he's only going after the one fixture. I have another one that's also wall mounted, but he leaves that one alone and they were the same distance away before I took out the platform. The other one is a compact bulb- it's almost 6 months old, so completely worthless. I just stuck it in there for supplemental lighting as it was given to me with Barf and throws off a lot of light. After it burns out I'll either get a mercury vapor fixture and bulb, or just stick in a fluorescent.

 

[Taterbug]

Do you use a reflector? I'm wondering if the fixture makes noises or flickers or something?

For your setup (if I recal it was really big. Yes?) I'd also recommend a T5, it will help brighten things up for him and give better penetration into the enclosure. You can pair it with an MVB in the basking area and for more brightness and visible light you can use full length T5 daylight lighting.

 

[Mildew]

It is a rather large enclosure, and yes they do have reflectors. I can't see any visible flickering, but they were cheap fixtures so it's a possibility (my other one broke, and these were on sale for an amazing price).
This summer we'll be building him another enclosure which is taller and I'll have the money to buy T5 and MVB fixtures and I'll stick the ones I currently have in the larger monitor enclosure as they can't be bothered with the light fixtures . I want to make the new one a planted enclosure but don't have the height with the current one (it was a quick throw together I made when I took in a sick bosc and is not too pretty).