Is a guard needed for a 10% uvb bulb in bioactive set up?

[spiderfreddie]

Hi guys
I'm wanting to turn my vivarium bioactive and don't know if a 10% uvb tube light give off heat. I know uvb itself dosnt give of heat but if the bulbs only 10% uvb does that mean the rest is other light that could give of heat? If i do need a guard for a strip light can anyone recomend some for me?
Thanks

[Starscream]

T8s give off little heat, T5s give off a lot more. The percentage of UVB has nothing to do with the amount of heat given off, just the amount of UVB. If this is for a ball python, I would not use a 10% UVB bulb, as those are intended for desert species like bearded dragons, and may cause sunburns to a nocturnal animal like a ball. If you want to give UVB to a ball python, use Arcadia's 2% UVB tube light or Repisun's 5.0 tube light. 2-6% UVB is safe for ball pythons so long as you adhere to the basking distances given on the tube's label.

You will need a guard for any florescent light you place inside an enclosure, as snakes are notorious for getting into things they shouldn't (like tape, lights.... small holes that you wouldn't think they could fit their body in but somehow life finds a way). Cheap options would be making your own guard out of 1/2 inch mesh and using zip-ties to hold the pieces together. You can then cut the zip-ties when you want to clean the light (they get dusty faster than you'd think) or replace the UVB bulb, which you will want to do every 6 months if using Reptisun and every 12 months if using Arcadia.

For heating you'll want something like a radiant heat panel if you don't have one already, as UTHs don't do much in a bioactive setting.

[SDA]

10% UVB in that close proximity to plants may cause far too much stress on plant health. When you have too much UV radiation directly in close proximity to plants they respond by extending to much energy and roots generally suffer and leaves can tend to "burn" and eventually fail. You would want something more beneficial to the overall growth of both climbing plants and surface flora that can benefit from more full spectrum and less UVB radiation.

The lighting will not be important to your snake provided it is not an albino and therefore has special lower UVB restrictions. It might be better to focus on spectrum and not UVB rating for growth.

[spiderfreddie]

My vivarium its roughly 3ft long and 2 ft tall. So you woukd recomend a full spectrum light. I assume the tube lighting gives a better all over light. Would it also be better to have two tubes one at the front and one at the back?

[SDA]

Find out hte light requirements of the plants you intend to use and make sure you have appropriate light. I really can't say because I have no idea what plants you are wanting to use.

2 feet is awfully short for a full bioactive. When you take into consideration the drainage layer, soil layer, plant height, and light depth, you won't have any vertical space left.

I would consult planted vivarium groups for the minimal depth needed for healthy root structures, adequate soil layer for cleanup crews and what spectrum is needed for snake proof plants.