Conjunctivitis and UVB lamp inquiry

[Hopehrl]

Hey there! So recently my youngish(exact age Unknown) bearded dragon Puff, who I've had for about 2 months now, developed what I found to potentially be Photo-kerato conjunctivitis, through about 2 hours of research (journal articles etc). Saturday when I came home Puffs left eye was very cloudy( will include before and after pictures), and eyelids just slightly swollen. He does regularly bask very close to his UVB bulb, which is a zoomed repti-sun t8 10.0. I noticed that his left eye was the one that faced the light more. So I instantly started an artificial UV detox. I turned his light off up until yesterday. And administered sterile genteal to the eye once a day, so as to aid the healing cells of his ocular lense, being that it's hydrophilic. Every day he went outside for regular sun time. Yesterday I noticed his eye was completely Normal. So I moved his UVB hood more towards the middle of the tank, and less away from where basks regularly, so that it wasn't so close to his face. The hood does sit on the screen top, and if I recall correctly it's actually an aquarium hood (it came with puff when I initially got it)
(I will include a photo of his tank below)

Now, I'm looking into getting a better bulb and hood unit. I'm planning to get him the Zoo Med ReptiSun T5-HO High Output Terrarium Hood 24" w/Lamp. The T5 are apparently stronger and penetrate solid material more efficiently. The bulb that comes with hood is the T5-Ho 5.0. And I know it's regularly recommended to have a 10.0, but since the T5s are more powerful, and Puffs eyes seems to be a bit sensitive to UV, would the 5.0 be sufficient for proper calcium absorption and metabolic function?
Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated

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[Hdrydr31]

I'm glad to hear that Puff's eye is back to normal!! I think he's super close to the basking bulb, could that be a contributing factor to his eye issue.. Have you ever temp'd his head while basking to see how hot his head/eye area is?? Yes the T5 are better all around and penetrate further thru mesh tops.. Many of the hood systems come with the T5 HO 5.0 bulb and I keep that for back up bulbs and buy a 10.0 to use.. I personally have not heard of the T8 or the T5 UVB systems causing eye issues like that..You do want to avoid mounting lights on the back of tanks as it shines right in their eyes.

 

[Hopehrl]

I thought it may be the basking bulb, but I did move the side his logs and cork face after his eye for cloudy. His affected eye was facing his UVB and not his basking light I also tried lowering his cork, so as to not be as close. And he practically had a fit about it, and flipped his cork upside down and Into the middle of the tank. When he doesn't want to be directly under the light, he'll go under the cork flat. (Like he currently is right now, I'll provide a picture) , so I'm not very confident his eye issue was caused by his basking light.
I don't want to attach the new light or hood behind the tank, but above it, on L brackets. That way it's above, and at the recommended safe distance of 10-12inches away. (For the T5 bulb)

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[PatsyB]

They should be 6" away from any light UVB or basking. The T5 10.0 bulb is good. It penetrates the mesh better but it doesn't penetrate more solid surfaces. I have a hemp hammock bridge and there is no UVB underneath it even though there are openings in the hammock.

 

[Kpontius]

I'm glad to hear that Puff's eye is back to normal!! I think he's super close to the basking bulb, could that be a contributing factor to his eye issue.. Have you ever temp'd his head while basking to see how hot his head/eye area is?? Yes the T5 are better all around and penetrate further thru mesh tops.. Many of the hood systems come with the T5 HO 5.0 bulb and I keep that for back up bulbs and buy a 10.0 to use.. I personally have not heard of the T8 or the T5 UVB systems causing eye issues like that..You do want to avoid mounting lights on the back of tanks as it shines right in their eyes.

I have a mesh top and also just stored the bulb that came with hood for "just in case" needed and ordered the Reptisun T5HO10.0.


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