UVB Lighting Question

huaban

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Apr 20, 2021
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49
Location (City and/or State)
Cypress, TX
I am replacing coiled bulb to Reptisun T5 HO Tube. I have read a lot threads talking about UVB lighting. So I bought a combo with one 5.0, one 10.0 and a fixture hood from Amazon. The product instruction says the 5.0 one is for tortoises, 10.0 is for desert reptiles. Really got me confused. I got a radiated tort. Which one should I use???? The height of the enclosure is about 12 inches. Is the tube safe for that height? Thanks in advance.
 

TeamZissou

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You need a T5 HO tube fluorescent bulb. These are a straight tube rather than coiled. It needs a fixture to go with it. I am not sure what combo bulb you're referring to, but it's unlikely to be what you want.

12" is a very short enclosure height. Radiata need a UVI of about 3, so a 5.0 T5 bulb would be more appropriate. A solarmeter 6.5 is the only way to know the UVI level that the tortoise experiences.

Bulb:

bulb.jpg
Fixture (I get these from LLL Reptile):

fixture.jpg

Read this care sheet. It's important to have high humidity (85%) to grow a smooth Radiated. I'm jealous that you can get Radiated. Take good care of it!

 

huaban

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
49
Location (City and/or State)
Cypress, TX
You need a T5 HO tube fluorescent bulb. These are a straight tube rather than coiled. It needs a fixture to go with it. I am not sure what combo bulb you're referring to, but it's unlikely to be what you want.

12" is a very short enclosure height. Radiata need a UVI of about 3, so a 5.0 T5 bulb would be more appropriate. A solarmeter 6.5 is the only way to know the UVI level that the tortoise experiences.

Bulb:

View attachment 323934
Fixture (I get these from LLL Reptile):

View attachment 323935

Read this care sheet. It's important to have high humidity (85%) to grow a smooth Radiated. I'm jealous that you can get Radiated. Take good care of it!

Hi Zissou,

Thank you for your reply. I believe I bought correct ones.
 

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TeamZissou

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Location (City and/or State)
Albuquerque, NM
Yes that does look like the correct style bulb. So does it have both a 5.0 and a 10.0? A 10.0 bulb at 12" of height will be far too much UV for the tortoise. This would provide the correct UVI at something closer to 22" of height. A 5.0 bulb would be more appropriate since you only have 12" to work with. A Solarmeter 6.5 is used to measure the UV intensity and is the only way to know what the UV level is, since bulbs and fixtures vary.
 

huaban

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
49
Location (City and/or State)
Cypress, TX
Yes that does look like the correct style bulb. So does it have both a 5.0 and a 10.0? A 10.0 bulb at 12" of height will be far too much UV for the tortoise. This would provide the correct UVI at something closer to 22" of height. A 5.0 bulb would be more appropriate since you only have 12" to work with. A Solarmeter 6.5 is used to measure the UV intensity and is the only way to know what the UV level is, since bulbs and fixtures vary.
Got it. Thanks
 

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