Screen and UVB

[marriott1012]

Hello, i just bought a tank and am preparing to get a dragon! Now I have read that the screen will block out the UVB rays if the bulb is placed on the top of the screen so many people put the fixture inside the tank. The tank I just purchased states that the UVB rays will be able to get through the specially designed screen top. I am wondering if this is just an advertising gimmick or if anyone can support this statement? Here is the link, any advice would be appreciated. http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/natural_terrarium_large.php

 

[Jess]

UVB rays will go through any screen top, but a lot of them will get filtered out. The screen tops on the Exo-Terras really aren't anything special It's still a better idea to put the UVB light inside, or at least get a reflector for it.

 

[marriott1012]

I just purchased a 24 in under the counter fixture from walmart for 10 bucks. Now I am probably going to hook it to the screen top with some thin wire because I have a foam background on the back on the tank. Do you for see any issues with this?

 

[Esther19]

Zip ties work well, too.

 

[marriott1012]

Zip ties work well, too.

I didn't want to put holes in the screen though, maybe I will lol.

 

[Jess]

I could always zip tie my light to the screen without cutting holes in it.

 

[marriott1012]

I could always zip tie my light to the screen without cutting holes in it.

Oh really lol ill have to look at it again and look for small zip ties.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The larger the mm on the screen of course, the better. The mesh or tiny mm sized screen will block out almost all of the UVB but the standard screen tops will allow a decent amount through but 20-30% can still be filtered.
As suggested, it would be best to try & use the 3M command hooks, zip ties, etc to mount the light underneath of the screen top for maxiumum exposure for your dragon. Make sure it is 6-8 inches from him with the basking light alongside of the UVB tube bulb for him to create a nice basking area where he can warm up & get UVB all in one area.


Tracie

 

[FewdioDave]

I'm in the same situation. The first thing I thought of is cutting a hole in the screen. Which seems obvious, but I just want to make sure before I do... does that present any problem? Or will simply cutting a hole in the screen under the UV bulb do the trick?

 

[marriott1012]

I'm in the same situation. The first thing I thought of is cutting a hole in the screen. Which seems obvious, but I just want to make sure before I do... does that present any problem? Or will simply cutting a hole in the screen under the UV bulb do the trick?

I hung the uvb with a little fixture from walmart instead design the cage with some thin wire to make jewelry to hang in inside the tank. As long as the wire feeds through the screen. Will post pics if needed.

 

[NoxnGeorgieT]

You might find the section on mesh tests on http://www.uvguide.co.uk/uvinnature.htm pretty informative. The bulb-through-mesh testing data is currently unavailable since they're working on updating the site, but I would imagine that the percentage of UVB filtered out via various materials stays about the same whether you're talking about sunlight or an artificial UVB source.

 

[FewdioDave]

I hung the uvb with a little fixture from walmart instead design the cage with some thin wire to make jewelry to hang in inside the tank. As long as the wire feeds through the screen. Will post pics if needed.

I would love to see pics, if you could... I'm not sure I can visualize what you're saying. Thanks!

You might find the section on mesh tests on http://www.uvguide.co.uk/uvinnature.htm pretty informative. The bulb-through-mesh testing data is currently unavailable since they're working on updating the site, but I would imagine that the percentage of UVB filtered out via various materials stays about the same whether you're talking about sunlight or an artificial UVB source.

Thanks! I actually did discover that site in my initial research, and yeah, noticed the data for that is offline. I will look at it again, though.

 

[marriott1012]

I hung the uvb with a little fixture from walmart instead design the cage with some thin wire to make jewelry to hang in inside the tank. As long as the wire feeds through the screen. Will post pics if needed.

I would love to see pics, if you could... I'm not sure I can visualize what you're saying. Thanks!

I hope these help ya out