Thank you for the help in advance. I was surrendered a 4 yr old bearded dragon recently (with no prior experience of caring for) and only had a 40 gallon tank available. He will be moving on up to a 120 gallon tank soon, I'm just trying to make him as comfy as I can before the big switch. He gets plenty of time out of the tank and has a spot outside for him he visits every day the weather permits it.
In regards to the photos; He normally has a tank background/carpet/decor, but I'm doing a big cleanup on his tank furniture today so we switched over to some of the larger furniture meant for the future 120 gal while everything dries and my concern is his being way too close to the UVB tube/ not in the range of light. Just to be clear, his basking light was switched over to a lesser watt, and will be switched back over to a 100w later tonight when we grab the stand from storage to dangle it over the tank. I'm aware that the lamp is too low and will cause overheating if I have the wattage any higher until I have the stand.
The T5 HO Reptisun 10.0 UVB is housed in a Reptisun T5 HO Terrarium Hood which to my knowledge has a reflector and that hood is placed onto a mesh cover. Because of how short (18 inches) the tank is currently, I don't have the hood hooked up inside the tank as not to fry the poor guy out because I was told this uvb light at such a small distance (about 8-9 inches from him on the furniture he usually uses) could only be safely used on top of the mesh. I would like to put his shorter furniture back in but during today's cleanup, I noticed that he's really loving this tall climbing stand. The UVB light as you can see is not directly over him but as there is only a few inches between him and the start of the cover, my concern is that because he's not directly below it, he won't be getting enough uvb, but if I moved it above him he would be receiving too much and would earn himself burns.
I can't even fathom how to mount the UVB at a higher distance (like the UVA basking lamp will be). The curves of the hood seem to prevent light from leaking out horizontally (refer to 3rd attached photo to see UVB without UVA on) so I'm not sure how to make it safe for him for the hood to be on the mesh above him once the basking light is suspended. He's just too close.
The TLDR questions to sum this all up: Is there best a way to tilt the hood on top of the mesh to send the light over to the front of the tank so he can have the UVB at a safe distance while he enjoys this tall piece of furniture? Is that even a good idea? If tilting the hood will cause problems, what sort of contraption can I add to this hood for suspension above the cover so the path of light will rest directly over him at a distance without burning him? Should I just keep the tall furniture to the cool side?
Would love any and all ideas. His setup was rearranged (w/ his background/carpet/decor back in it's place) after photos were taken, the tall rock-looking piece is now on the cool side until I can figure out how best to make it safely accessible on the warm side.
In regards to the photos; He normally has a tank background/carpet/decor, but I'm doing a big cleanup on his tank furniture today so we switched over to some of the larger furniture meant for the future 120 gal while everything dries and my concern is his being way too close to the UVB tube/ not in the range of light. Just to be clear, his basking light was switched over to a lesser watt, and will be switched back over to a 100w later tonight when we grab the stand from storage to dangle it over the tank. I'm aware that the lamp is too low and will cause overheating if I have the wattage any higher until I have the stand.
The T5 HO Reptisun 10.0 UVB is housed in a Reptisun T5 HO Terrarium Hood which to my knowledge has a reflector and that hood is placed onto a mesh cover. Because of how short (18 inches) the tank is currently, I don't have the hood hooked up inside the tank as not to fry the poor guy out because I was told this uvb light at such a small distance (about 8-9 inches from him on the furniture he usually uses) could only be safely used on top of the mesh. I would like to put his shorter furniture back in but during today's cleanup, I noticed that he's really loving this tall climbing stand. The UVB light as you can see is not directly over him but as there is only a few inches between him and the start of the cover, my concern is that because he's not directly below it, he won't be getting enough uvb, but if I moved it above him he would be receiving too much and would earn himself burns.
I can't even fathom how to mount the UVB at a higher distance (like the UVA basking lamp will be). The curves of the hood seem to prevent light from leaking out horizontally (refer to 3rd attached photo to see UVB without UVA on) so I'm not sure how to make it safe for him for the hood to be on the mesh above him once the basking light is suspended. He's just too close.
The TLDR questions to sum this all up: Is there best a way to tilt the hood on top of the mesh to send the light over to the front of the tank so he can have the UVB at a safe distance while he enjoys this tall piece of furniture? Is that even a good idea? If tilting the hood will cause problems, what sort of contraption can I add to this hood for suspension above the cover so the path of light will rest directly over him at a distance without burning him? Should I just keep the tall furniture to the cool side?
Would love any and all ideas. His setup was rearranged (w/ his background/carpet/decor back in it's place) after photos were taken, the tall rock-looking piece is now on the cool side until I can figure out how best to make it safely accessible on the warm side.
