new enclosure lighting question

[Sedjet]

I've built an enclosure for my beardie that's 4' x 2' x 2' roughly. The enclosure is made of wood with four 3" circle vents in the back and a long vent on each side. The one on the cool side is up high, the one in the hot side is down low. Everything is ready to go and now it's time to get lighting. I want to use either a 24 or 36 inch Reptisun 10. I'm not sure if I need to go with the HO T5 or the regular T8. The T8 fixtures are certainly easier for me to find, but I want to get what's best for my beardie. So my question is which is best for my enclosure?

 

[HKzForDayz]

I've built an enclosure for my beardie that's 4' x 2' x 2' roughly. The enclosure is made of wood with four 3" circle vents in the back and a long vent on each side. The one on the cool side is up high, the one in the hot side is down low. Everything is ready to go and now it's time to get lighting. I want to use either a 24 or 36 inch Reptisun 10. I'm not sure if I need to go with the HO T5 or the regular T8. The T8 fixtures are certainly easier for me to find, but I want to get what's best for my beardie. So my question is which is best for my enclosure?

An enclosure that size, definitely go with the t5. I've always read that to create the best UVB gradient, you want to go with an bulb thats 1/2 to 2/3 the length of your enclosure, with t5 you have either 22" or 34", I would personally go with the 34" as 22" is less then half, but I have heard that you will be ok with the 22 still, to just make it directly overlap your basking spot.

LYR has a t5 arcadia fixture/bulb combo for like 75 bucks

 

[CooperDragon]

I second that. A T5 is the way to go. I'd get this fixture http://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ
With this bulb http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-10-0-Lamp/dp/B00AQU8HAO/

Or this combo set http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

 

[Taterbug]

A 22" bulb is fine, a 36" wouldn't actually make much of a gradient.

 

[Sedjet]

Okay. One more question. Hiei loves to climb, I'm planning on building him a little climbing area on the cool side with lots of branches. Does it matter how close he gets to the light if I use the T5? I think his tallest branch is about a foot tall.

 

[CooperDragon]

I wouldn't build anything closer than about 10'' from the T5 (through a screen) because the UVB output and visual brightness would be pretty intense at close range. If you get the 22'' and put it over on the basking side then it will allow you to build up much higher on the cool side of the enclosure. Same goes if you build to the front or the back of the light because the output drops as you move away from the light to the sides as well.

 

[Sedjet]

Cooper, I was going to mount the light inside the cage, since it's made of wood except for the front. Should I put some screen over the fixture then?

 

[CooperDragon]

No, that's fine. The screen just intercepts some of the UVB so it has a shorter range. Without a screen I probably wouldn't put anything much closer than 12'' or so (roughly) directly under the bulb but you can go higher off to the side or to the front/back without an issue.

 

[HKzForDayz]

A 22" bulb is fine, a 36" wouldn't actually make much of a gradient.

Even flat mounted to the top of the enclosure? There is so much mismatched information throughout the web on UV exposure in captivity. To make things even worse , I cant find my solarmeter, guess I will have to order a new one. Do you have a model you would suggest? The one I had previously , if I am not mistaken, was made by a company actually named solarmeter. it was black and green IIRC. I paid 180 for it on ebay.

Until then, the advice of a member with a solarmeter will have to suffice. Just to be clear, a 34" t5 in a 48" enclosure , would be too large to allow for a sufficient gradient?

 

[Taterbug]

A 22" bulb is fine, a 36" wouldn't actually make much of a gradient.

Even flat mounted to the top of the enclosure? There is so much mismatched information throughout the web on UV exposure in captivity. To make things even worse , I cant find my solarmeter, guess I will have to order a new one. Do you have a model you would suggest? The one I had previously , if I am not mistaken, was made by a company actually named solarmeter. it was black and green IIRC. I paid 180 for it on ebay.

Until then, the advice of a member with a solarmeter will have to suffice. Just to be clear, a 34" t5 in a 48" enclosure , would be too large to allow for a sufficient gradient?

I have a Solarmeter 6.5 I like a lot. It measures in UVI which is a bit easier to use than the other one. (I think you may have had a 6.2?)

Fran Baines is my go to for UV. They have recently republished her UV Charts on a public site too along with a paper all about reptile UV. Its not dragon specific and technical but very informative. http://www.uvguide.co.uk/BIAZA-RAWG-UV-Tool.htmIf you scroll a bit down on this link you can see that the light sort of "balloons" out past the end of the bulb. http://www.uvguide.co.uk/UVTool-Reptisun10T5.htm A 36" lamp would be fine, but personally I like the 22" so that I can be sure the gradient tapers off on the far side and it allows more flexibility furnishing wise.

 

[CooperDragon]

I use the 6.5 as well. The green one is the 6.2 I believe. I use a lot of the same sources Taterbug uses as well so I echo her comments.

As far as exposure goes, I try to replicate what I measured while wandering around a bit of their natural habitat (outside Adelaide) a while back. During mid morning and late afternoon I measured between 3-5 UVI most days depending on cloud cover and how much shade I was under. The area I was walking through had areas under bright sun over rock outcrops but it also had a lot of trees and bushes so there is a lot of shade options as well. I try to replicate that in my enclosure by offering a bright, high heat high UVB (3-5ish UVI) area as well as a lower heat and lower UVB area (.5-1.5 UVI) and some hides that offer complete shade. The highest UVI that I measured over the course of a week was 10.9 at 1pm in bright sun. UVI tended to peak between about noon-3pm most days. It's likely that dragons would be seeking shade and hiding during these times. The measurements were taken in late November so it was late spring there.