Question on UVB Screen Penetration?

I have a Zoo Med Screen Cage 16x16x30 like this:
http://www.chromachameleons.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/16x16x30.jpeg

My question is what kind of UVB Bulb should I use to penetrate this thick aluminum mesh? I have a 5.0 and a 10.0. People at the Reptile Store tell me to use a 10.0 because the UV won't penetrate enough with a 5.0. But then I read some threads that say use a 5.0. But they don't specify the kind of mesh. Any suggestions?

I would say the vast majority of us use the 5.0's on top of our enclosures with great success. Some use the 10.0 but most of us don't.

carol5208 said:

I would say the vast majority of us use the 5.0's on top of our enclosures with great success. Some use the 10.0 but most of us don't.

Click to expand...

Hmm..so the mesh thickness doesn't matter?

well yes, but is your mesh thickness out of the ordinary???

carol5208 said:

well yes, but is your mesh thickness out of the ordinary???

Click to expand...

I would say no. If most people get a zoo med screen cage it shouldn't be out of the ordinary. Maybe the guy at the reptile store was pulling sh*t out of his arse, cough cough* Good thing I got the 5.0 just in case.

I use a 5.0 on my reptibreeze cages and get good uv penatration to about 8-10 inchs. About 45-50 on a solormeter.

There are some people that use the 10.0, but they generally raise it up off the screen at least 6-8". 5.0 will work fine, and in a pinch, you could use the 10.0 as a back-up, just raise it up a bit.

Solid Snake said:

There are some people that use the 10.0, but they generally raise it up off the screen at least 6-8". 5.0 will work fine, and in a pinch, you could use the 10.0 as a back-up, just raise it up a bit.

Click to expand...

well i built my own enclosure and i put two aluminum mesh on top. the one on the inside is a bit loose so my cham wont burn himself. is that too much mesh for a 5.0?

The only real accurate way to tell of course is with a Solarmeter.

However....

UV light is Light... light energy that is just not visible to our eyes.

And it behaves like "light" when it comes to screening.

Different types of screening have different amounts of "open space".

If a screening mesh has say.. as an example.... 80% open space ... then 20% of it is blocking light. Does that make sense??

So in that example that particular type of screening blocking 20% of the VISIBLE light... and it is blocking 20% of the UV light as well.

When buying screening, they do sometime say what percentage of the mesh is "open" vs. what percentage is being blocked by the weave.

So the moral ofthe story is that we should use the most "open" mesh practical if we want to not only admit UV... but to also not cut down/ block out the visible light that planted set ups require.

Hope that 2 cents helps.

Cheers,
Todd
LightYourReptiles.com

Oh.. side note... something to consider if doing an outside enclosure.

You may actually want a screening with LESS void space if you need to shade down forest animals that could be "over done" by the sun in a cage that gets allot of full sun.