Question re: t5 5.0 height over habitat

[Kronos]

Can you put a t5 5.0 uvb directly on top of your habitat or should I keep it elevated a little. Here’s a picture of what our habitat/light setup looks like. I’m just afraid the uvb doesn’t get far enough down. And yes I’m aware that the uvb is tilted a little. My inner ocd is killing me, lol!!! Had to elevate the jungle dawn light because it literally burned some of my bromeliads leaf’s.

 

[Kronos]

Accidentally posted 2 of the same picture, oops. Lol.

 

[Jocccellynnn]

I have mine directly on the enclosure. I believe it should be 9 inches away from the highest basking branch otherwise it should be elevated. Not 100% sure but that’s what I have learned. Or as long as your Cham isn’t screen climbing and could get burns.

 

[nightanole]

https://chameleonacademy.com/uvb/

Float 4" above the cage. Ideally you want the cham to hang out in the 9"-16" zone. Closer than 9" and you start hitting too high of UVB, and over 16" and you start hitting too low of uvb. And if they get really close like 3-4" then they will receive abover terrestrial amounts of UVB.

 

[Jocccellynnn]

Your enclosure is really pretty.

 

[nightanole]

Your enclosure is really pretty.

And can hold about 250lbs from the ceiling mount

And more importantly, there is a govee mounted at the rear of the tank

 

[Beman]

I keep mine on the top of the cage running left to right then the branch is 9 inches down putting them in a 3 uvi range. Single bulb T5ho fixture with a 6% bulb. But none of my boys are able to screen climb the top... If they were then I would elevate 4 inches and basking branch 5-6 inches below the screen for a total of 9-10 inches to the fixture from the branch. This too would create a 3 UVI at basking and allow for the top screen to be about a 6 uvi level which is still within safe limits.

 

[Kronos]

He does tend to spider-man it every once in a blue moon. Lol. But most of the time he’s chillin, basking or roaming amongst his foliage etc... I’ll just stay safe and elevate it to 4 inches, it’s about 2 at the moment. Will get it done now.

 

[Beman]

He does tend to spider-man it every once in a blue moon. Lol. But most of the time he’s chillin, basking or roaming amongst his foliage etc... I’ll just stay safe and elevate it to 4 inches, it’s about 2 at the moment. Will get it done now.

Just make sure you adjust the basking branch below it as well.

 

[Kronos]

The basking branch is 6 inches from the top at the moment, it looks a lot closer in the pic I posted.

 

[RyanBRZ]

I rest mine on the enclosure top and the highest basking branches are around 8" below IIRC and I get a ~3.5-3.8 UVI with the light going through reptibreeze mesh.

I highly recommend investing in a Solarmeter so you can eliminate the guessing game with something so important. This will also allow you to replace your bulb when needed instead of following the 'every 6 months' rule. My last zoomed bulb lasted me 18 months, so over time, the Solarmeter can theoretically pay for itself.