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Utilizing window light

Squam8

New Member
Messages
8
I am aware that typical window glass will filter out most UVB. However I have also been told/read that there are some types of glass that won't do this, or will do it to a much lesser degree. My preliminary research lead me to "fused quartz" as an option that supposedly doesn't filter out the UVB. I'm very far off in terms of getting my tegu but I'm already wanting to start to plan for the eventual acquisition. I know that non filtering glass is supposed to be expensive, but when I get around to being able to get my argentine tegu, I really want to go with the ultimate enclosure, and in my opinion (and i know this is not a controversial opinion) natural sunlight is way better than the imitation.

I tried to poke around this website to see if this topic has been already covered, and I didn't find too much (Feel free to link anything I may have missed if this has indeed been covered to a fair extent. I'm certainly not great at digging through older forum postings.) Does anyone have experience with doing this or valuable info/resources for me?

I really loved some of the ideas I saw in a previous thread and want to mimic some of that. You regular users no doubt saw the posting from some time back. The person made a double level enclosure with a peltier device, which cooled the bottom level and heated the top level. This person was wayyy more tech savvy than me but i really dug the idea of having two levels, the bottom being cooler and more humid, and the top being the hot spot and more dry. I know the idea of double level enclosures is nothing earth shattering but I just wanted to shout out that person cuz I was hella impressed with some of the ideas.

So I was thinking, what if I aped some of those design ideas and added a thick layer of non filtering or minimal filtering glass to the back of the top level of the enclosure, put the thing in front of a window, and then replaced the window glass with more of some sort of non filtering glass? If it cost a thousand bucks just for the glass I think it would totally be worth it.

As I said, I'm not anywhere close to pulling the trigger on one yet, but when I do I want to really do it to the best of my abilities, so you all will probably see more postings from me in the future. Some of my ideas may be unconventional, but plz bear with me. I'm not a total noob by any means, just trying to think outside the box a bit and do things the most awesome way possible.

Thx in advance for any insights.
 
Last edited:

Ivyna J Spyder

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
51
If you really want to go the window route, I'd first get a good Solarmeter and test just how much UVB even gets through that window to begin with (when open of course). Which direction does the window face? Does it get morning or afternoon light? Is there anything that could block it? What about when the seasons change? IMO the problem is window light, especially from a single window, might be too variable or brief to be useful for a tegu.

Non-filtering glass is better used for a fully outdoor enclosure where you need some level of insulation but still want the benefits of natural sunlight. The sort of thing you'd see in some zoos, for instance. But that's going to be the entire ceiling and part of the sides, not just one window, so it takes better advantage of the light as it moves.
 

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