light distance question

[Sunkiss]

I ordered a 160 W ZooMed Powersun UV from Amazon.com and there was not any paperwork in the box. I have been trying to find out what the minimum distance the animal can get from the lamp. The 100 w said it needed to be a minimum distance of 12 inches. I have tried looking on zoomed's website and it does not indicate the minimum distance. I don't want my beardie to burn. Do you happen to know the minimum distance?

Rhonda​

Read more: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?conversations/160w.6554/#ixzz24atQ2SUj

 

[thorn]

its trial and error here. get your self a very nice and accurate digital thermometer with a probe. put the probe on the basking spot and just sit there and watch the temp go up until it stops and then adjust your light from there. with me i got lucky and the first place i put my light the basking spot was right at 106.9 so i didn't have that much adjusting to go.
speaking of which any one know if this http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12462462 is any good?

 

[Germ]

MVBs are designed for large enclosures. It is not really the heat that they put out, but the harmful rays that they can emit at close range in the UVC spectrum, that is the problem, can cause Photo Kerato Conjunctivitis (an eye irritation that has been compared to us receiving 'Welders Flash") & is why minimum recommended safe distances must be adhered to.​

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The Absolute minimum safe distance from a 160W MVB is 15", but a minimum of 18-20 is highly recommended by most manufacturers. They can emit effective usable UVB for up to 30+" & are not designed for small enclosures like we generally use for our BDs. ​

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Quite often at minimum safe distances, they will not provide sufficient heat needed for BD's Basking Spots, so a second bulb is often required anyway. Because of this, keepers have them closer than the Minimum safe distance, so the proper temps can be achieved & then wonder why they have problems with their BDs.​

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Personally, I wouldn't use one at all for a BD. In my opinion a 10.0 Fluorescent Tube, mounted inside the enclosure within 8-12" from center of the Bulb to the Basking Spot & a good bright white or clear bulb for heat at the Basking Spot, of sufficient Wattage to provide the required temps, is the route to go.​

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Good Luck​

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[Germ]

12" is the Minimum safe distance, NOT the maximum. Minimum, meaning no closer than 12" from a 100W Powersun, needs to be further than 12" to be safe. What they are saying is, that the animal needs to be between the range of 12-24" from the bulb to provide safe & effective UVB at the Basking Spot & have an area to retreat to more than 24" away, to get away from it. The majority of the enclosures that most of us use for BDs, don't or barely fall into the medium sized enclosure category. You have to remember that these bulbs are not made specifically for BDs & are designed much larger UVB needing reptiles also, that require huge enclosures. The ones we generally use for BDs are relatively small in the overall big picture of reptile enclosures.

 

[Sunkiss]

Thank you. She is now in a 55 gallon tank...old aquarium. I have a digital thermometer and digital hygrometer. Her tank is 4 feet wide, 14 inches deep, and 16 inches tall. I have a florescent long 10.0 attached inside the tank, and on the hot side I have the MVB. The ambient room temp ranges between 78 and 85. I had the 100 w MVB and it was not getting hot enough and I read that the 100 w mvb was for tanks up to 40 gallon; which is why I decided to get the 160 w mvb. If the 160 MVB does not make it hot enough at the safe distance of 18 inches then, I will return it and I will have to use a heat and two uvb's because the current long is not long enough for the whole tank.
I have attached a couple of pics of the set up.

 

[Germ]

That is a very nice enclosure

.

But I don' know if I would use both UVB sources. UVB is only needed at the Basking spot & there should be areas where they can get out of it or away from it when\should they feel the need. In the 'Shade' so to speak, not only to a cooler area, but to also remove themselves from the "Sun's" rays. Full length UVB is not required or necessarily even a good plan. I would really recommend using only one or the other, covering the Basking Area. The way you are setup with the MVB should work well for you if it provides the required temps at a safe distance. Anyway, there is some food for thought.

Once again, I really like the look of your enclosure, very practical & attractive

.

 

[Sunkiss]

Really? I did not know that. I thought the whole tank had to get uvb and only heat on one side. Wow, I would not have used the long if I had understood that. I think I have been worried that she would not get enough uvb if she didn't spend enough time on the hot side of the tank. I have also worried that the uvb on the hot side is too filtered through her hammock; I say this because most of the time she is laying down on the bottom UNDER the hammock instead of on the hammock.
Ok, so I will:
1) remove the long florescent uvb. Right?
2) If the uvb does not provide enough heat, then I will use a basking lamp on the far left and right next to it I will hang the mvb bulb and on the right side there will not be any light fixtures.

Is this correct?
Thank you very much.

 

[Sunkiss]

Also, I currently have the mvb bulb 18 inches from her hammock and basking rock.

 

[Germ]

That would be a quite functional & acceptable scenario, but if it were mine, I would leave the Fluorescent fixture in the enclosure that now holds the 10.0 & replace the bulb with a regular fluorescent tube just for added light at that end.

She may be trying to get away from all that UVB, under the Hammock is the only place where she is protected from it . If we provide the proper options to give them the choices, they know better than we do, what they need or are comfortable with, at any given time. It is our responsibility to provide the proper options so they can choose.

 

[Sunkiss]

Okay, that sounds great. Tomorrow I will go get a regular fluorescent tube and I will be monitoring the temps under the hot side.
Thank you very much.
I took her to the vet the other day because I have noticed that she has not been herself much lately. I have been wondering if she is getting ready to brumate (that is completely new to me) She has been going to sleep earlier every night and one day she didn't come out from under her log at all - allll day and night. Her poop was runny a few days later. The vet said she is dehydrated and that she needs to eat more of her greenies. I struggle with that too. All she is interested in eating is her live prey. I provide lots of options too: collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, and endive. She is finicky. I am now putting some meal worms under the salad so she will have to grab some greens while going for the meal worms.

 

[Germ]

How often do you give her warm soaks? Is she a year old or more already? For the heck of it, try some fresh cut green Beans. When mine would go off their greens, I am unsure why, but Green Beans would almost always re-spark their interest in their greens. I have suggested this to many others over the years & more often than not, it works . She looks quite healthy in the Pic, but can't see the back of her head.

 

[Sunkiss]

I give her a bath every few days (that is where she usually poops).
I have not tried the green beans. Do you dice them up real good and do you remove the seeds in the fresh green beans? I will go take a pic of her head. The vet said she could tell from her back legs and from the saliva being a bit stringy.

 

[Sunkiss]

 

[Germ]

I just cut them into approximately 1/4"-3/8" pieces & feed them.

Hard to tell from this pic, but otherwise looks quite good. Generally one of the first places that dehydration will show up is in the Fat Stores at the back\top of the head. A real healthy dragon will generally have a slight roundness on each side. A malnourished or dehydrated Dragon will generally be quite flat or hollows on each side on the wider rear portion of the top head triangle just behind the third eye. Can't tell from this pic.

 

[Sunkiss]

Whoa, you really lost me. I have never heard of the third eye.
Here are a few pics from just a few minutes ago. I don't know why she does this: fluffs out her beard and kinda pops it, but her beard does not turn black (like it does when she is mad or feels threatened and her back legs are laid out (like she is relaxed)...very confusing to me. Do they just stretch out their beards to stretch?

 

[Germ]

Looking at her from the angle in the first pic, looking for that particular symptom of Dehydration, I don't see it, she looks quite healthy, to me. But the Vet having hands on viewing would definitely have the better idea.

Do you see that tiny little dark spot in the center of the top of her head in the 2nd Pic, that is called the '3rd Eye' (aka- Pineal Eye, Parietal Eye) & is a photosensory organ that senses light\heat for Thermoregulation. In other words, that is where it senses it's heat from. Having only a very basic retina and lens, it is also sensitive to variances in light and dark, but it does not form images as their eyes see. This organ is one of the reasons why you shouldn't use light for heat at night, why many BDs will flee from your hand when you approach from above to pick them up, or why, when in the car, some will duck their head when you drive under a bridge or overpasses.
Mine will periodically do that with their beard too, sometimes just to stretch it, other times to loosen an oncoming shed, other times for

, because it feels good I guess .

She is a Gorgeous Dragon ...

 

[Sunkiss]

That is sooooo cool!!! Makes perfect sense!
Wow. I am glad you think she looks healthy, I have been so worried about her. I intend on getting the plain fluorescent light, and green beans today. The vet said she needs more hydration and that I may need to force her to drink water with a dropper since she is not getting enough from her greens. Little stinker, yesterday I pried open her mouth and put some greens in and she spit them out .
I will let you know in a few days how she is doing. Thank you very much.
BTW, where do you get your awesome icons? They are great - I'm sure you've been asked a million times.

Rhonda

 

[Germ]

BTW, where do you get your awesome icons? They are great - I'm sure you've been asked a million times.

I grab the emoticons from various sites, when I see something that I like & might use, I right click & download it, then Upload them to my Photobucket account so they are there whenever I want to use them. The welcome images are of my dragons that I made.

 

[Sunkiss]

I like them.