uvb question

[naich]

why cant reptiles get within 6 inches of their repti sun's?

 

[Brandon]

Placing bulbs too close to a chameleon can create high levels of UVB which may lead to burns and health problems. It is important to provide a UVB gradient so that the chameleon can choose their level of exposure. In his chapter on Panther chameleons in Chameleons- Care and Breeding of Jackson's, Panthers, Veiled, and Parsons, Gary Ferguson recommends a gradient of full shade to 15 microwatts per square centimeter. According to his findings, the exposure from a reptisun 5.0 at a distance of 12 inches will provide an adequate maximum amount of UVB Granted, when used over a screen top, some of the UVB rays are filtered out, thus the bulb should be a closer.

 

[Dave Weldon]

...In his chapter on Panther chameleons in Chameleons- Care and Breeding of Jackson's, Panthers, Veiled, and Parsons, Gary Ferguson recommends a gradient of full shade to 15 microwatts per square centimeter. According to his findings, the exposure from a reptisun 5.0 at a distance of 12 inches will provide an adequate maximum amount of UVB Granted, when used over a screen top, some of the UVB rays are filtered out, thus the bulb should be a closer.

Howdy Brandon,

Here's a link to Dodolah's interview with Dr. Ferguson (http://chamworld.blogspot.com/) where he revises his original 5-15uW/cm2 UVB level to 10-50uW/cm2. 6-12 inches from a Reptisun 5.0 linear tube should still fit into the 10-50uW/cm2 value .

 

[naich]

interesting. thanks!

 

[xanthoman]

bear in mind that most screens can reduce the amount of recievable light by up to 40% (depending on mesh ,wire size etc) so i dont think its a big concern with 5.0, but the only way to really know what your levels are would be to measure them with a uvb meter