UVA/UVB ?

[grogansilver]

I bought this custom made light fixture for my Pancake and Russian Tortoises it's a 49" fixture with two 8.0 UVA/UVB bulbs its stands up from the ground area from where the Tortoises are as you can see in photo! is this a good source for my tortoises? the only thing i worry about is will that UVB/UVA hurt my Tortoises eyes because on the box it says don't look at Bulbs! all directions and specs are pictured would like tom feed Back or opinions on this matter (Subject). the fixture it self stands 25 1/2 " above the Enclosure and them. the Bulbs are Desert 8.0 each and there is two of them!

 

[Madkins007]

1. I am not a fan of the high-output UVB bulbs. Our captive torts have a harder time getting out of the light than wild torts do, and the wild torts get varying dosages as the day goes on- ours is always the same dosage. Having said that, I also think 2 is overkill- too high of a dose and too bright of a light. (Although that may not be a problem here, see point 3)

2. The UVB output of fluorescent bulbs are designed for specific heights. If the bulb is too close, it hurts the eyes and creates too small of a basking pool. If too high, not enough of the UVB hits the ground. All GOOD bulbs print this info on the package. I don't trust bulbs that don't mention it.

3. Beautiful Dragons.com tested this bulb and was not happy with it. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Research4.html. Russiantortoise.org was also not impressed- http://russiantortoise.org/uvb.htm. For a 'high output' bulb, it does not do much.

 

[wellington]

I just read this article on TT, maybe this will help. UNDERSTANDING REPTILE LIGHTING SYSTEMS
TT is TortoiseTrust.org