Arcadia light distance?

[joshuaseidman94]

I just received my Arcadia 24" fixture with 6% Arcadia bulb and 6500k daylight. My question is as follows, how far should the fixture be positioned from my panthers basking spot? He is 8 months old. Additionally, I use a 50w heating bulb in his small cage. What watt bulb should I use for his new 2x2x4 cage??
Thanks guys!!

 

[NHenn]

In order to give you an exact answer I would need to see your cage setup but I would provide him areas that he could bask directly under the double fixture within 6, 8 and 12" below it. That should give him the ranges of UVB he needs.

As for position from the heat basking spot, I would have the double fixture along the front or back of the cage and have the basking bulb on the opposite side. As soon as you are 2-3" outside of the double fixture the UVB drops to virtually nothing so as long as the basking is outside the direct rays of the UVB you are fine.

You could be fine with the 50w depending on you ambient temperatures. You might want to increase to a 60 or 75 but I would test it out first. Another idea would be to provide two basking spots. One where he can just pick up heat and one where he can bask in the heat as well as the UVB. Have a 50 for the combination spot and a 75 for the heat only.