How close should my uvb light be?

[byviolet]

I have a reptisun coil 10.0 and I was wondering how low do I have to have it... it's at 13 inches off the ground right now so is that too high? Since redfoots are usually in the shade and all anyways.

 

[Yvonne G]

Regarding your Reptisun coil 10.0 and how close it should be? Well, it should be as far from the tortoise habitat as your garbage can!!! Those bulbs are bad, BAD, BAD!!! Buy a tube type bulb. They're much better for RF tortoises.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

As an explanation...coil bulbs have been known to cause either blindness in a tortoise or severe eye problems. I had a yearling Sulcata it happened who was blinded, and I read about a lot of other keepers it happened to. Keep reading the forum, there's all the time newbies writing in about their tort who has closed swollen eyes and has stopped eating; most of the time they have a coil type bulb...

 

[mikeh]

Zoomed T8 10.0 tube style UVB at 12-13" distance.