# UV bulbs - guards?



## dcap (Sep 3, 2011)

Background - I'm at the early stages of converting my entire collection to vivs. Researching and pricing things up at the mo. I started my reptile keeping life with all vivs, added a few rubs and then switched to all rubs a few years ago. I do like RUBs a lot, they have lots of benefits and I will continue to use them for my homemade hatchlings up to about yearling size. But I just can't see my snakes very well and watching them is one of the reasons I got into keeping them ... so, the vivs need to return.

The majority of my snakes need a 28'C hot spot, and my plan is large vivs with heating supplied via a ceramic bulb with guard and stat. I keep my reptile rooms warm as I regard the ambient as just as important as the hot spot. 

I want to add UV light - these will likely be on for just 4 hours a day. Room lighting to provide a natural day/light cycle, with a 'midday-ish' UV basking time. Sure there is the 'snakes don't need UV debaters' but, I want to see for myself. I know the species I keep do well without, but I want to see if they 'bask in the sun' and if this changes their behavioir at all. My snakes rooms are very quiet low traffic areas of the house, so today a lot of my snakes ignore their hides and chill out wherever they want to pretty much undisturbed.

From my research into UV there are obviously two different shapes - the big long tube bulb thing with a controller - and the traditional light bulb shape ones (which I assume you just switch on/off with a switch or timer).

Long Intro. *My questions*, being that snakes are a lot more mobile and can climb a lot better than _some_ lizards:
- can you get a bulb guard for the tube shaped UV lamps, and is this needed, does the bulb get hot?
- can you use waterproof 'fish tank' UV bulb in a wooden viv for a snake (assuming these have some kind of plastic cover which the UV can penetrate)?
- if you put a 'traditional light bulb shape' bulb into a heat guard does it cut out most of the UV goodness? Has someone measured this, with/without guard?
- is there a recommended UV light meter (doesn't have to be a 'reptile branded' product)?
- how far away from the ceramic bulb does the UV light need to be? I'd like the heat and light to be at the same end of the viv.

Gooofy question - can I just get a big 'builder's light' style (like this - http://www.macbuildingproducts.com/images/05SITELIGHTPLAS110V.gif ) replace the bulbs with UV and pop it in the room in front of 8x vivs? Does viv glass stop UV?

Thanks y'all for your input.


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