48" reptisun 5.0 distance

[Series420]

hello all, i just upgraded from a 22inch reptisun 5.0 to a 48 inch, for the sake of being thourough i want to check with ya'll and see what kinda distance you're keeping your lights from your tortos.

he's a 2.5year old eastern hermanns. right now ive got the light about 12 iches from the substrate, is this too close? thank you all in advance!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’m going to tag @Alex and the Redfoot because I’ll admit the distances of different branded uv than what we use get lost on me lol, hopefully he’ll be along shortly with a suggestion🙂

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

hello all, i just upgraded from a 22inch reptisun 5.0 to a 48 inch, for the sake of being thourough i want to check with ya'll and see what kinda distance you're keeping your lights from your tortos.

he's a 2.5year old eastern hermanns. right now ive got the light about 12 iches from the substrate, is this too close? thank you all in advance!

Hello!
12" is a bit too high for a 5.0 lamp (10-11" will be better). However, as you have 48" long tube now, I would suggest to make a gradient - from 10-11" at the basking area to 14-16" towards the far end of the lamp. If you have live plants - great, use them too to help your tortoise to escape from UVB if it wants to.

 

[Series420]

Hello!
12" is a bit too high for a 5.0 lamp (10-11" will be better). However, as you have 48" long tube now, I would suggest to make a gradient - from 10-11" at the basking area to 14-16" towards the far end of the lamp. If you have live plants - great, use them too to help your tortoise to escape from UVB if it wants to.

Excellent, thanks for the advice. I'll definitely set up the gradient.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Is it a T5 or a T8?
That'd make a tremendous difference

 

[Series420]

Is it a T5 or a T8?
That'd make a tremendous difference

t5, my bad for not including that in the initial post.

 

[Tom]

hello all, i just upgraded from a 22inch reptisun 5.0 to a 48 inch, for the sake of being thourough i want to check with ya'll and see what kinda distance you're keeping your lights from your tortos.

he's a 2.5year old eastern hermanns. right now ive got the light about 12 iches from the substrate, is this too close? thank you all in advance!

5.0 bulbs are for forest torts. You need a 10.0 HO tube, or one of the 12% HO tubes from Arcadia.

The recommendations from Alex will probably be okay, but we are all just guessing. You need to put a meter under that bulb to see what it is doing. Guessing could lead to too much, or not enough UV.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

@Series420, just a warning, if you go with a 10.0 or Desert lamp you will need to install lamp higher - approximately at 18-21". At 12" there will be unsafe UV level.

 

[Series420]

@Series420, just a warning, if you go with a 10.0 or Desert lamp you will need to install lamp higher - approximately at 18-21". At 12" there will be unsafe UV level.

Thanks mate. I ordered a solar meter to dial it in properly

 

[Series420]

5.0 bulbs are for forest torts. You need a 10.0 HO tube, or one of the 12% HO tubes from Arcadia.

The recommendations from Alex will probably be okay, but we are all just guessing. You need to put a meter under that bulb to see what it is doing. Guessing could lead to too much, or not enough UV.

Ordered a solar meter 6.5. To be safe.

 

[Tom]

Ordered a solar meter 6.5. To be safe.

You'll be glad you did. Your tortoise will be indoors a lot given your weather and that indoor UV will be important. You will sleep better KNOWING what your UV levels are and adjusting as needed. You will also spend a lot less money replacing bulbs that are working perfectly fine.

The meters are also fun to play with. I take mine outside all the time checking UV levels of the sun at different times of day, in different weather conditions like cloudy or hazy sun, or full sun, and in all the different seasons. I was surprised to learn how little UV there is in winter time in general, but especially in the morning and afternoon in winter. I got a reading of 0.0 pointing my brand new meter directly at the warm sun at 4:30pm in October. I thought it was defective. It wasn't until later in the morning the next day that I realized it worked fine, and that there is just no UV in the late afternoon or early morning during that time of year, even in full direct sun outdoors. It changes your perspective on things in regard to how best use artificial UV in an indoor tortoise enclosure.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I played with my meter a few years ago:

Real world UVB test done

I've conducted a UVB test and the results have surprised me. I've included photos of what I tested and tested with... A very popular T5 HO (5.0) florescent fixture and a SOLARMETER 6.5R. When I first set up my Chameleons enclosures, the new lights put out a reading of almost 8.0 at the top...

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