I've got a new baby bearded dragon (7 weeks old) and I have some questions about UVI measurements.
The dragon is living in a 4'x2'x2' enclosure, with an Arcadia 14% UVB bulb. Her decorations are all kept low, because of the strength of the bulb and concerns about big falls for a little lizard. I've got a Solarmeter 6.5 that I'm using to check UVI levels, which currently vary from 0 to 6. But some of her decorations are 15" from the bulb (7" from the ground) and I'm finding conflicting information about if that's ok.
Arcadia's website notes a UVI of 0-6 as the goal for a Bearded Dragon and the same page says 18" for the Arcadia 14% (https://www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/full-sun-baskers/). Though their bulb specific page lists 15" as the top-end (https://www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/lamps/dragon/).
Leaving aside height from the specific bulb, just looking at UV Index information there seems to be disagreements. This page about it (https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides) lists a Ferguson Zone of 3-4, allowing for a UVI of up to 7.4 !
For those with Solarmeter devices, what UVI do you normally target?
I appreciate this is not an exact science. Which leads me to my final question: Can I trust my little dragon to know how much UV she needs? She spends time at a number of different places around the tank, some at high UV levels and some at low. She can access high and low temperatures with both high and low UV, giving her plenty of options to pick from. But so far she'll still plop down for at least a couple hours under the maximum heat (105-110) and maximum UV (6.0) spot. If my measurements are wrong, or 6 really is too high, is there a risk here of her being silly and hurting herself?
The dragon is living in a 4'x2'x2' enclosure, with an Arcadia 14% UVB bulb. Her decorations are all kept low, because of the strength of the bulb and concerns about big falls for a little lizard. I've got a Solarmeter 6.5 that I'm using to check UVI levels, which currently vary from 0 to 6. But some of her decorations are 15" from the bulb (7" from the ground) and I'm finding conflicting information about if that's ok.
Arcadia's website notes a UVI of 0-6 as the goal for a Bearded Dragon and the same page says 18" for the Arcadia 14% (https://www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/full-sun-baskers/). Though their bulb specific page lists 15" as the top-end (https://www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/lamps/dragon/).
Leaving aside height from the specific bulb, just looking at UV Index information there seems to be disagreements. This page about it (https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides) lists a Ferguson Zone of 3-4, allowing for a UVI of up to 7.4 !
For those with Solarmeter devices, what UVI do you normally target?
I appreciate this is not an exact science. Which leads me to my final question: Can I trust my little dragon to know how much UV she needs? She spends time at a number of different places around the tank, some at high UV levels and some at low. She can access high and low temperatures with both high and low UV, giving her plenty of options to pick from. But so far she'll still plop down for at least a couple hours under the maximum heat (105-110) and maximum UV (6.0) spot. If my measurements are wrong, or 6 really is too high, is there a risk here of her being silly and hurting herself?