Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was working on the cage for my baby argetine B&W (my very first!!) and I was trying to figure out about the cover on the cage (a large sterilite container). I cut a whole in one side of the cover and wanted to put some window screening there, so I could put the light over that. My question though, is will the window screening interfere with the UVB rays at all?

thanks so much!

~Proud to finally be a member of the tegu club! ~

Well welcome to the club! From what I understand and have read if your lights are more than 18" above the surface then they are too far and the UV they need is cut down alot. Also any screen or glass or lexan or plexi will filter out the uv also. would be best to make the opening a little smaller then the light and let it sit on top with nothing between light and tegu. Good luck

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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

I tried it with the screen last night, turns out it wont work anyway The bulb was so close to the screen it started smoking! So now I just have the light sitting right on top of the cover, in the hole. My only concern now is that warm side will get too warm, I have a 100watt powersun bulb in there to deliver the UV rays and heat.

one ov the reasons UV lights are more money is because the "glass" they use is quartz, that allows the UVB through. as you said, glass and plexi will filter out all the UV but screening (depending on how thight a weave it is) can filter out up to half. It is best to mount the light inside the screened area, even on a wall is ok. MVB should generally only be mounted vertically. there are MVBs that can easilly reach 2-3 feet but you must follow manufacturers instructions as getting too close to an MVB is not good at all.

for more info on UVB

UV info

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

All it really says in the instructions for distance is "all animals should be able to get a minimum of 12" away from the lamp as well as have a 'cooler' area away from the lamp. It is heating up the cage too much for comfort though...the hot end of the cage gets to be about 105F and the cool end around 75F. Again, this is the "powersun self-ballasted mercury vapor flood lamp", 100W. How far away from the top of the substrate should the light be?

Sorry, I just noticed it says in the directions "Screen top; make sure the Powersun UV lamp and fixture and above a screen cover. This lamp gets hot; don't let your animals make direct contact with the lamp.

Getting even more confused