question on mercury bulb.

[nicks75]

I setup my tegus new enclosure from a walk in closet and bought a exo terra solor glo 160 watt mvb. It says in the instructions

"The 160 watt solar glo is designed for very large terrariums with a minimum height of 120 cm (48 inches), room or walk-in enclosures and for veterinary use. The 125 watt is more appropriate for large size terrariums with a minimum height of 80 cm (30 inches).

If the bulb is to be mounted inside the terrarium, then the minimum height is 120 cm (45 inches) for the 125 watt and 150 cm (60 inches) for the 160 watt. Be sure to allow the animal to be a minimum of 30 cm (12 inches) from the bulbs surface, in addition to providing a temperature and uv gradient within the terrarium."

So I'm confused, it is saying that a 160 should be 48 inches in a walk-in? Can the uvb of a 160 watt uvb ever reach that far. It also says...

"Be sure to allow the animal to be a minimum of 30 cm (12 inches) from the bulbs surface"

It seems that these are contradicting each other. I would think that 12 is too close for a mvb and 48 is too high. I have it set at 30 inches from the basking spot right now in addition to extra heat bulbs to reach the recommend temp.

Any suggestions from anyone, is 30 inches too far? I'm afraid of getting too close and over exposing my little guy to uvb, should that be a concern?

 

[NickBoudin]

I think you're safe at 30". If it makes you feel better I used a 125 watter on my tegu when it was a hatching from around 2' away and it's grown up just fine, so I see no harm as long as it's 12" from contact with the substrate or basking spot and no more then 48" away.