PerezG94
New Member
Hey all,
I just wanted to post some info for all you to see. I am new here but constantly see posts asking for UVB and Heat recommendations in other groups. I had made this post on Facebook but thought I’d share here as well! Most of this info will be for Sulcata torts of hatchling to juvie size still living in doors in an enclosed chamber or similar. I’m going to build a mini guide here made up of information I have found from vetted sources and compiled from other reptile groups to clear a lot of confusion up for those that need it. A special thanks to members of those groups that have taken the time to test, measure, and produce this information and make it public so that we can care for our animals to the best of our ability. Please see attached charts in links at the end of this thread.
UVB:
Firstly there are so many factors that effect the UVB output in your enclosure just to name a few:
•Distance
•Mesh Type
•Bulb/Brand
•Top or Internal Placement
Without taking ALL of those factors into consideration we cannot guarantee we are meeting the specific needs to our tort friends. As we all know there is such as to little and too much UVB and it is not matter of option but scientific fact that choosing a linear bulb over atraditional bulb is the only way to go. However if you are not utilizing the bulb correctly it may as well not even be there. It also important to note that even when basing your UVB set up on the charts I am going to supply that you should still and ALWAYS be measuring your output with a solar meter 6.5 to ensure your parameters are correct. With out this meter you will never know for certain if your animal is getting what it needs. I will link the meter in the comments, it is expensive but so is life and you should be prepared to spend money on an animal you have chosen to care for simple as that.
Sulcatas land in “Ferguson Zone 3” partial or open sun baskers Zone range UVI 1.0 – 2.6 (Maximum UVI: 2.9 – 7.4 in basking zone) meaning an Arcadia 12% T5HO should be your go to linear bulb choice. Now let’s get into the fine print here. It is also not of opinion but of fact, tested fact at that, that did dent types of mesh and glass alike will filter most and sometimes all of the UVB your bulb is producing if your fixture is at on top of your enclosure. In fact most mesh screen or lids filter 30%+ of all UVB being produced and all glass to include plexi, acrylic, and common glass will filet 100% of your output rendering the fixture useless.
It is important to know A. What type of mesh you have and B. The amount that mesh is filtering. After this distance will fall into place. (Please see attached charts and pictures in the link at the end of this post)
Guide to Mesh Screens with T5-HO
Once you know what % of the UVB and light your mesh blocks, you can consult this chart to find what distance your T5-HO fixture needs to be above your reptile, to get the desired UV Index in the basking Zone.
Find the Group Letter for your mesh (Group A is "no mesh", Group B is 15% block, Group C is 25% block ... and so on)
Find the column that matches your tube brand and fixture (eg: data for an Arcadia 12% UVB T5-HO in a Vivarium Electronics fixture is always the second column along, in each coloured Group)
Find the UV Index range you want (eg. for Ferguson Zone 3, basking reptiles, such as Bearded Dragons, this will be between UVI 3-5. I've coloured the boxes orange so easy to find!) then read across to either "inches" or "cm" to see what distances that gives you.
UVB Internally Mounted: When UVB is internally mounted the output is much much easier to manage and measure. For this only distance, bulb selection and more importantly metered measurement is relative. We know based on the charts below the recommended distance for our linear bulb however we should not rely on this alone I cannot stress enough how important a measurement of intensity through a Solar Meter 6.5r is. Without this you will never know for sure.
HEAT:
When it comes to heat (basking/ day time heat) we need to remember that wattage is the measurement of power consumption only, and doesn’t correlate well to intensity at a given distance. This means wattage is not a terribly important factor in bulb selection. The more watts, the more total power (heat energy) going into the enclosure, but that’s only the total, not the intensity (concentration). Intensity of IRA is what is beneficial to our animals not just the heat alone there is a difference between warmth and IRA/energy consumption.
For basking, it’s the intensity that really matters, and it’s somewhat hard to get right without specialist tools or guidance. Intensity is almost entirely related to distance from a lamp, but each lamp is different, and over the last few years some fabulous charts have been made (mostly by Thomas Griffiths) to help show various lamps’ intensity profile.
Sulcatas typically bask early in the morning or late in the evening, and so we want to replicate that intensity: 200-250 W/m² (of IR-A) on one of these charts.
The Exo Terra 100W Intense Basking Spot would be a reasonable choice in most enclosures. (See charts for why) Given your enclosure is adequately sized for these animals and is atleast an equivalent to a 36” store bought for a hatchling. We would want the bottom of its substrate to be roughly 12-14” (30-35 cm) from the tort while basking, with no dimming. If the surfaces below are getting too hot, simply try other materials (without changing the distance or dimming the lamp). This is why the measurement of out put is important! Due to the fact that every bulb spreads intensity differently a lot of people will say Arcadia is best or I only use flukers or even just get the bulbs at Home Depot they are cheap and do the same thing. However brand means little with incandescent technology, all these bulbs are manufactured to a similar standard, but the designs and beams vary enormously from one model to the next
I have charts for two Arcadia lamps (both use 100W), and neither would be useful in most set ups for sulcatas. The first is the Arcadia PAR38 halogen, which has to be used at least full 1.3 m (4 ft) from most animals, the second is the Solar Basking Floodlight, which needs to be used at much closer distances to provide a suitable intensity (please see attached charts in photos)
Now a lot of people in this group will recommend a CHE for heat please understand a CHE is only heating the air around the bulb and is in no way warming your tort through IRA. A CHE should only serve as a secondary or night time heat source never a primary. And all heating elements should always be monitored by a hand held IR thermometer and more importantly primarily monitored by an appropriate thermostat.
I will also link an extremely informative article here pertaining to heating choices: https://tomaskas.co.uk/a-worlds-first-power-density-iso-irradiance-charts/
Hope this helps! If you found this helpful please save this post and tag those new owners needing information this can really help those newbies needing guidance.
Mesh Types and Charts
Heat Charts
I just wanted to post some info for all you to see. I am new here but constantly see posts asking for UVB and Heat recommendations in other groups. I had made this post on Facebook but thought I’d share here as well! Most of this info will be for Sulcata torts of hatchling to juvie size still living in doors in an enclosed chamber or similar. I’m going to build a mini guide here made up of information I have found from vetted sources and compiled from other reptile groups to clear a lot of confusion up for those that need it. A special thanks to members of those groups that have taken the time to test, measure, and produce this information and make it public so that we can care for our animals to the best of our ability. Please see attached charts in links at the end of this thread.
UVB:
Firstly there are so many factors that effect the UVB output in your enclosure just to name a few:
•Distance
•Mesh Type
•Bulb/Brand
•Top or Internal Placement
Without taking ALL of those factors into consideration we cannot guarantee we are meeting the specific needs to our tort friends. As we all know there is such as to little and too much UVB and it is not matter of option but scientific fact that choosing a linear bulb over atraditional bulb is the only way to go. However if you are not utilizing the bulb correctly it may as well not even be there. It also important to note that even when basing your UVB set up on the charts I am going to supply that you should still and ALWAYS be measuring your output with a solar meter 6.5 to ensure your parameters are correct. With out this meter you will never know for certain if your animal is getting what it needs. I will link the meter in the comments, it is expensive but so is life and you should be prepared to spend money on an animal you have chosen to care for simple as that.
Sulcatas land in “Ferguson Zone 3” partial or open sun baskers Zone range UVI 1.0 – 2.6 (Maximum UVI: 2.9 – 7.4 in basking zone) meaning an Arcadia 12% T5HO should be your go to linear bulb choice. Now let’s get into the fine print here. It is also not of opinion but of fact, tested fact at that, that did dent types of mesh and glass alike will filter most and sometimes all of the UVB your bulb is producing if your fixture is at on top of your enclosure. In fact most mesh screen or lids filter 30%+ of all UVB being produced and all glass to include plexi, acrylic, and common glass will filet 100% of your output rendering the fixture useless.
It is important to know A. What type of mesh you have and B. The amount that mesh is filtering. After this distance will fall into place. (Please see attached charts and pictures in the link at the end of this post)
Guide to Mesh Screens with T5-HO
Once you know what % of the UVB and light your mesh blocks, you can consult this chart to find what distance your T5-HO fixture needs to be above your reptile, to get the desired UV Index in the basking Zone.
Find the Group Letter for your mesh (Group A is "no mesh", Group B is 15% block, Group C is 25% block ... and so on)
Find the column that matches your tube brand and fixture (eg: data for an Arcadia 12% UVB T5-HO in a Vivarium Electronics fixture is always the second column along, in each coloured Group)
Find the UV Index range you want (eg. for Ferguson Zone 3, basking reptiles, such as Bearded Dragons, this will be between UVI 3-5. I've coloured the boxes orange so easy to find!) then read across to either "inches" or "cm" to see what distances that gives you.
UVB Internally Mounted: When UVB is internally mounted the output is much much easier to manage and measure. For this only distance, bulb selection and more importantly metered measurement is relative. We know based on the charts below the recommended distance for our linear bulb however we should not rely on this alone I cannot stress enough how important a measurement of intensity through a Solar Meter 6.5r is. Without this you will never know for sure.
HEAT:
When it comes to heat (basking/ day time heat) we need to remember that wattage is the measurement of power consumption only, and doesn’t correlate well to intensity at a given distance. This means wattage is not a terribly important factor in bulb selection. The more watts, the more total power (heat energy) going into the enclosure, but that’s only the total, not the intensity (concentration). Intensity of IRA is what is beneficial to our animals not just the heat alone there is a difference between warmth and IRA/energy consumption.
For basking, it’s the intensity that really matters, and it’s somewhat hard to get right without specialist tools or guidance. Intensity is almost entirely related to distance from a lamp, but each lamp is different, and over the last few years some fabulous charts have been made (mostly by Thomas Griffiths) to help show various lamps’ intensity profile.
Sulcatas typically bask early in the morning or late in the evening, and so we want to replicate that intensity: 200-250 W/m² (of IR-A) on one of these charts.
The Exo Terra 100W Intense Basking Spot would be a reasonable choice in most enclosures. (See charts for why) Given your enclosure is adequately sized for these animals and is atleast an equivalent to a 36” store bought for a hatchling. We would want the bottom of its substrate to be roughly 12-14” (30-35 cm) from the tort while basking, with no dimming. If the surfaces below are getting too hot, simply try other materials (without changing the distance or dimming the lamp). This is why the measurement of out put is important! Due to the fact that every bulb spreads intensity differently a lot of people will say Arcadia is best or I only use flukers or even just get the bulbs at Home Depot they are cheap and do the same thing. However brand means little with incandescent technology, all these bulbs are manufactured to a similar standard, but the designs and beams vary enormously from one model to the next
I have charts for two Arcadia lamps (both use 100W), and neither would be useful in most set ups for sulcatas. The first is the Arcadia PAR38 halogen, which has to be used at least full 1.3 m (4 ft) from most animals, the second is the Solar Basking Floodlight, which needs to be used at much closer distances to provide a suitable intensity (please see attached charts in photos)
Now a lot of people in this group will recommend a CHE for heat please understand a CHE is only heating the air around the bulb and is in no way warming your tort through IRA. A CHE should only serve as a secondary or night time heat source never a primary. And all heating elements should always be monitored by a hand held IR thermometer and more importantly primarily monitored by an appropriate thermostat.
I will also link an extremely informative article here pertaining to heating choices: https://tomaskas.co.uk/a-worlds-first-power-density-iso-irradiance-charts/
Hope this helps! If you found this helpful please save this post and tag those new owners needing information this can really help those newbies needing guidance.
Mesh Types and Charts
Heat Charts
Last edited: