Will aluminum foil reflect uvb?

BowDownBowser

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I have a repti-glo 10.0 that I use for uvb. The hood has no reflector so my plan is to line it with aluminum foil to get Kore use out of it. Will this reflect the uvb or absorb it?
 

Tom

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They say reflectors do increase the amount of UV reaching the animal. A light meter will answer the question definitively for you. The Solarmeter 6.5 is highly recommended.
 

Yvonne G

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My "GUESS" would be that you need to smooth the foil so it's not crumpled, and then, yes, it will reflect the light and the UV rays downward.
 

pfara

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You can use foil to reflect the light. But like Yvonne said, you need to make sure that it is not crumpled because it can create "hot spots". However, I use the context in terms of growing plants indoors so I don't think "hot spots" in a tortoise enclosure will hurt anything. In fact, it might act like a mottled effect like lighting coming through trees (though not nearly as prominent). You can definitely use foil, but Mylar is a better reflective material. If you try it, let me know how it turned out.
 

DeanS

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Tom said:
They say reflectors do increase the amount of UV reaching the animal. A light meter will answer the question definitively for you. The Solarmeter 6.5 is highly recommended.

Just got a pair...uv index and meter...Tom gave me a little demo the other day...and I was blown away!
 

Volksvegan

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There is aluminum foil tape (made for sealing hot and cold duct work) that goes on very smoothly. I've used it on fixtures that didn't have reflectors, but only for low-wattage tube fluorescents (same app that you want to use it for). You can get it at any hardware store. Seems to work.
 

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