Lighting Issues

[Pat B]

I have attached 2 pictures of my enclosure for the lighting. The temperature wasn't getting above 90 degrees and the humidity is moderate not dry. I removed the screen on top because I don't think, and I have read, that screen will block heat and UVB. I will replace it with a wider screen top soon. The bulb on the left is a 75 basking. It is 10" away from the top of the wood piece. The middle bulb is for basking/heat at 75 watts. I added it to bring up the temperature. The bulb on the right is a 75 watt UVB. Middle and right bulbs are 14" away from the bottom. I don't have digital thermometers yet ....had to order them off the internet so they should be here probably by Monday. I don't think that my lighting has been good and I hope what I have done helps. Will this setup work?

 

[Pat B]

Forgot to attach the pics....here they are below.....duh!!

 

[Germ]

Hi Pat, Your new enclosure is looking very nice, other than the majority of your lighting & thermometers are in the wrong places to be effective.

1st: The Thermometers - The thermometers supplied with those kits are not suited for this type of application & are basically no better than the ones you had in your other enclosure. They are still mounted on the back wall, like your other ones were, no where near where the temps need to be measured from. I went through this with you on your other enclosure.

If you are taking your readings from where those thermometers are stuck to the glass, you may be coming really close to cooking the little one, because it could very well be 50+ degrees hotter directly below the bulb at the basking spot!!! If you are not removing the thermometer from the glass & placing it directly below the bulb, on the Basking spot for 30-45 minutes & then taking your readings, that is downright scary.

Once you get your digitals, fine, but that doesn't do darn bit of good right now. At the very least, follow the above about removing the existing thermometer from the glass (Or one of your old ones from the other enclosure) & placing directly on the basking spot to measure the basking temperature. I have gone through this many times on other threads & I am very sure that you have read some of them. It is not rocket science, the basking temp must be taken at the basking spot, not the back wall. Stick on thermometers are greatly affected by the temperature of the glass, which is affected as much by the outside ambient room temperature as the temp inside the enclosure. On top of the fact that the BD does not bask on the back wall so taking the temp there is useless & it will be much hotter directly below the heat bulb where the basking spot should be.

2nd: The UVB - Where you have the UVB placed right now, your BD is still receiving no effective UVB whatsoever. Effective UVB does not reach as far as the light itself does. It has a limited range that dissipates quite quickly as the bulb ages & is why they must be regularly replaced even though they still shed light. You mentioned in another thread, that you are using a 5.0, no UVB is reaching the floor, 14" is out of it's range. 14" is barely within the range of a new unfiltered 10.0 & a month or 2 down the road not at all. On top of the fact, that it should also be covering the basking spot, not the cool side, because if your Temps are correct, that will be where it will spend the majority of it's time (Basking).

3rd: The long and short of it is - Put the screen back on, it serves 4 purposes, prevents escape (They are very accomplished escape artists & need to be contained), protects the BD from touching the heat bulb, provides a place to rest the fixtures on & keeps other predatory pets out if you have any (Cats, Dogs, etc.). Place the 2 fixtures with the Heat & UVB (10.0 bulb) bulbs side by side on one end of the enclosure. Raise the basking spot or provide a different one that will allow access for the BD to be able to bask 6-8" below the screen directly between the middle of the 2 side by side fixtures. Place the thermometer directly on the basking spot at the closest point to the screen. Leave it there for 30-45 minutes after the lights have been on for a minimum of 2-3 hours & the enclosure has warmed up to normal temps, then take your reading. If your temp is not in the vicinity of 110F & it is too hot, raise the Heat fixture, use a lower wattage bulb or move the Basking Spot itself more towards the UVB bulb, whatever works the best. If it is colder than 110F, use a higher Wattage Bulb & again check the temp & follow the previous instruction. To get your cool side temp measurement, the temp should be taken low at floor level at the point in the enclosure furthest away from the heat bulb, not half way up the back wall, because once again, your BD will never have access to that area so measuring temps there is absolutely pointless as it can't climb the wall very easily.

You will likely not need the third fixture unless you just want to add ambient light & may only want to use a fluorescent coil bulb if no more heat is needed.

Hope this helps to get Spike finally setup properly with proper heat & useable effective UVB. I don't know how to explain it any clearer without coming there & doing it myself.

Good Luck

 

[Germ]

I just reread your post, 75 Watt UVB, you are scaring me again. To my knowledge, such a bulb does not exist, but I could be wrong.

 

[Pat B]

You are a patient man Mr Germ! truly patient! ....I have digital thermometers coming in the mail. They should be here early next weeks. I put the wall thermometer straight under the basking light and it zoomed to 120!! but I raised the light and temp has gone down. The temp is now stable at 110. So....screen will go back on and basking and uvb light will be side by side and the third light will get taken out. I 'think' I now understand the lights. I know they are so important but the information out there is mind boggling. I just hope the Spike can survive me! He is doing well, eats like a pig and has big poops!! Thank you so much for all your help and if you want to be really hot this summer then come down to Columbia SC.....summers are brutal!!

 

[Pat B]

Oh dear....my BAD!! The basking light is 75 watt and the UVB is a 5 but going to change it to 10.

 

[Germ]

Remember that you must get a basking spot setup so Spike will have access to 6-8" below the screen with the UVB above it. You may have to go to a lower wattage heat bulb or still have the heat fixture hanging to you can raise it. But Spike will have to be able to get that close to the UVB bulb at the Basking spot, for it to be effective filtered through the screen. I suggest using a combination of one of the wider fixtures (UVB) & the smaller one (Heat) rather than the 2 larger ones together. This would keep the 2 bulbs as close to each other as possible above the basking spot.

Please post pics again, once the changes have been made & the new temps have been measured with the new configuration. If you will follow the instruction, we will get Spike proper comfy very soon.

Yup ... Eatin' & Poopin' is a good thing & not just for Spike

 

[ThDude]

Glad to see your really trying to get everything right for your bd, I hope it all works out good.

I can't think of anything to say that germ has not already, just hope everything goes good.

 

[Germ]

As per our phone conversation, this is what a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) looks like.

 

[Pat B]

Thanks....never have seen one of those. I am sure I will need one in the winter time as my house stays in the low sixties!!