I am upgrading hides and climbing sticks as my little beardie is growing like crazy (yay!?) and I was wondering how far I should keep stuff away from the uv light. I have a t5 ho 10.0, mounted underneath the screen. Is there a concern that he/she would get too close to the uv or would he/she only get as close as needed and not too close? The uv light runs the length of the tank, though there are areas of shade.
Side note: the basking spot distance is set according to temp, so not concerned about that portion
I wouldn't let a dragon get closer than about 6'' because they can get visually very intense. Optimal distance for that bulb and a reflector is about 12'' but they can handle more intensity than that if they want to. As long as you have easily accessible shade areas it should be OK closer than 12'' but not closer than 6'' or so.
If you have a reflector 8-10" is what I would limit to. 6 is way too close (UVI 10-17). Different bulbs, fixtures and setups will vary but rather stay on the safe side. They may get too close since lights are always quite a bit different from the sun.