Welcome Home little Errtu!!!

[Vexor1717]

Thanks! So is yours T5 or T8? From my understanding only T8 have to be inside. Is this not correct?

 

[Vexor1717]

Stunning little guy!!!

Thanks! Yea he is!

 

[Axil]

Thanks! So is yours T5 or T8? From my understanding only T8 have to be inside. Is this not correct?

*edit* Mine is a T5 yes

As far as I understand it's more that a T8 is pretty much never effective outside the enclosure. Whereas T5s can be but you need to be able to place basking decor 8-10in under the light, and possibly closer if your screen blocks more than 33% of the light. With a 24" high enclosure that becomes problematic.

Plus I think the longer effective distance makes it easier to provide a gradual UV gradient.

 

[hdochow]

yes T8's have to be inside. even with a wide hole screen there just isn't enough uvb at that distance. the T5 can be on top if you are 8-10 inches with a wide hole screen, or 12-15 inside. i have a solid top so 12-15 it is.

of course, these are general distances because most of us don't have a uvb meter and they are expensive. if you have a meter, go with the reading from it. i'm not sure what those numbers are though. @Claudiusx probably could tell you.

 

[Claudiusx]

If you have a meter, aim for no lower than 3.5 UVI at the basking site. I wouldn't go any higher than 5 at the basking site. I aim for 3.5 - 4 UVI for my main basking areas.

-Brandon

 

[Vexor1717]

*edit* Mine is a T5 yes

As far as I understand it's more that a T8 is pretty much never effective outside the enclosure. Whereas T5s can be but you need to be able to place basking decor 8-10in under the light, and possibly closer if your screen blocks more than 33% of the light. With a 24" high enclosure that becomes problematic.

Plus I think the longer effective distance makes it easier to provide a gradual UV gradient.

Thank you. Can you help me understand that last sentence? I know what gradient means but I'm not grasping what you mean. Thank you! I just measured and I'm at 15" so I'm going to put bricks under his hide. This is the screen type is this the larger holes?

 

[Axil]

Thank you. Can you help me understand that last sentence? I know what gradient means but I'm not grasping what you mean.

Sure, keep in mind I don't have a uvb meter and my understanding of the math involved is based on what I can remember from high-school plus what I've looked into since getting Beebz. I did run my numbers through a calculator to verify them, but there could be factors I'm unaware of or things I'm misunderstanding.

Light intensity decreases with distance from the source according to the inverse square law. This means if you double the distance from your UVB bulb you cut UV exposure to 1/4.

This means the closer you need to put the light to your dragon to achieve the desired exposure, the more that exposure will increase or decrease bases on distance.

So for example if your dragon is on a platform 8" from the light and he sits up so that his head is only 4" from the light his head is now recieving 4x more uvb than the platform. If you had a uvb meter and dialed it in at 4 on the platform his head would be exposed to a uvi of 16.

If he does the same thing on a platform that's 12in from the light, his head is 8" from the light and he's getting a little more than double the uvb exposure on his head compared to the platform. If the platform was once again dialed in at 4 his head would be exposed to a uvi of 9.

This would also apply to how quickly the uvb changes on a slope under the light, or with lateral distance from thr light. The further away you are from the light the more gradual UVB exposure changes.

Hopefully that makes sense.

This is the screen type is this the larger holes?

Those holes are large enough to let a fair amount of UVB through. For "large hole" mesh the guideline I've seem here is to assume a third of the uvb is being blocked turning the recommend distances of the commonly used bulbs (reptisun 10, arcadia 12) from 12-15 to 8-10.

The issue is every screen will be different and in your particular case the numbers I found published indicated the screen blocks ~45%. If that is true you are looking at a distance of 6.5-8.25" to get the same exposure you would at 12-15in unobstructed. The closer distances would amplify the issues mentioned before regarding small changes in distance meaning large changes I'm uvb exposure.

All of the means that personally I'd want to use a UVB meter when dealing with a screen to verify what is actually getting through, and probably a stronger light like the arcadia 14 to give me more distance from the light and avoid large uvb differences over small distances.

Since I didn't want to pay ~$250 for a uvb tester I just zip tied my light inside the enclosure.

 

[Vexor1717]

Sure, keep in mind I don't have a uvb meter and my understanding of the math involved is based on what I can remember from high-school plus what I've looked into since getting Beebz. I did run my numbers through a calculator to verify them, but there could be factors I'm unaware of or things I'm misunderstanding.

Light intensity decreases with distance from the source according to the inverse square law. This means if you double the distance from your UVB bulb you cut UV exposure to 1/4.

This means the closer you need to put the light to your dragon to achieve the desired exposure, the more that exposure will increase or decrease bases on distance.

So for example if your dragon is on a platform 8" from the light and he sits up so that his head is only 4" from the light his head is now recieving 4x more uvb than the platform. If you had a uvb meter and dialed it in at 4 on the platform his head would be exposed to a uvi of 16.

If he does the same thing on a platform that's 12in from the light, his head is 8" from the light and he's getting a little more than double the uvb exposure on his head compared to the platform. If the platform was once again dialed in at 4 his head would be exposed to a uvi of 9.

This would also apply to how quickly the uvb changes on a slope under the light, or with lateral distance from thr light. The further away you are from the light the more gradual UVB exposure changes.

Hopefully that makes sense.



Those holes are large enough to let a fair amount of UVB through. For "large hole" mesh the guideline I've seem here is to assume a third of the uvb is being blocked turning the recommend distances of the commonly used bulbs (reptisun 10, arcadia 12) from 12-15 to 8-10.

The issue is every screen will be different and in your particular case the numbers I found published indicated the screen blocks ~45%. If that is true you are looking at a distance of 6.5-8.25" to get the same exposure you would at 12-15in unobstructed. The closer distances would amplify the issues mentioned before regarding small changes in distance meaning large changes I'm uvb exposure.

All of the means that personally I'd want to use a UVB meter when dealing with a screen to verify what is actually getting through, and probably a stronger light like the arcadia 14 to give me more distance from the light and avoid large uvb differences over small distances.

Since I didn't want to pay ~$250 for a uvb tester I just zip tied my light inside the enclosure.

Ok. Thank you this all makes sense. If it were possible for me I would use zip ties to put mine up but when I assembled my enclosure I accidentally put the cord holes on bottom and the way I had to hammer the whole thing together, I'm afraid I may not be able to get it back apart. He already tries to climb the cord on the other side where the camera is. Any ideas?

 

[Axil]

Ok. Thank you this all makes sense. If it were possible for me I would use zip ties to put mine up but when I assembled my enclosure I accidentally put the cord holes on bottom and the way I had to hammer the whole thing together, I'm afraid I may not be able to get it back apart. He already tries to climb the cord on the other side where the camera is. Any ideas?

Ah, yeah I saw the holes seemed to be lower than mine. Supposedly those enclosures can be disassembled, but I agree I wouldn't want to after hammering everything together.

I'm not sure how you'd get him to stop messing with the cord, or how much of an issue that is. If he was determined enough he could probably manage to tangle himself in it or fall from higher than you want him to be able to get.

You could probably cut hole in the screen big enough for the cord I'd you used needlenose pliers to stretch it enough to get small wire cutters to fit. That does sound like a PITA though . Hopefully someone has a better suggestion.

 

[NickAVD]

I would try turning the side wall upside down (if the terrarium is collapsible), or you can make another hole in the side wall at the top.