I talk to Bob Mac via telephone, the creator of the Megaray, on a regular basis. He says 12 and 14, and if he has any specific suggestions about a specific animal that I am concerned about, then he tells me. These are minimum distances. I usually keep my basking sites at least this far away, and then raise it some as necessary to regulate temps according to the type of animal. For the uros, their basking spots are about 12 -15 inches from the bulb. If you have any doubts, call Bob. He is very approachable.

As for a fixture, I use 250 watt rated ceramic based brooder lamps. That is overkill, but I had several burn out before I switched. Again, Bob made this suggestion. The MVBs get hotter than their regular counterparts, so I go over.

Be sure to get a deep enough dome. I use the 8 1/2 inch domes, the extra big ones, that you can get at Lowes or Home depot. MVBs are very large bulbs and if you are setting it on a screen, you need extra room. I try not to, as screen does block a certain amount of UVB, but if you have jumpy lizards that can scale a 21 inch tank side, you kinda have to.

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