The highest uvb levels occur within 6 inches of the bulb.
What does a uvb bulb do.
Uvb output declines by 80 90 at 18 inches.
One causes premature aging the other is more prone to causing sunburn dna damage and skin cancer.
Now modern cfl uvb bulbs come in 100 150 and 200 models with each model progressively emitting higher uvb levels than the model below it.
Make sure that uvb bulbs are used during the day and turned off during the night to mimic daytime and nighttime.
You may feel a little hesitant about a light bulb that costs a lot more than the general premises but it s a long term investment.
Therefore your pet s basking site should be within 6 8 inches of the bulb.
Both uva and uvb rays can damage your skin just in different ways.
So if you want a long lasting high quality adequate producing uv bulb check out either the zoo med combo pack or the mega ray mercury vapor bulb.
In recent tests the zoo med 5 0 and 10 0 bulbs were found superior to several other models please see this article.
Do a simple math problem like this you will spend 100 to invest a dozen bulbs or invest only a uvb bulb worth 30 a year.
Every type of reptile or amphibian has slightly different needs but a general rule of thumb is to keep the uvb light heat source on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours a programmable power center can manage the time rotation.