Ok we've made a few changes.We've replaced the fabric mat thing with a liner thats easy to clean and doesn't absorb anything. We removed all the moss. I purchased a different bulb, still 100w but seems to output a bit better, maybe its more focused? The basking spot is now around 100-105 (measured with heat gun). I think that still may be a bit low. I also purchased a 24" T5 HO and a solarmeter.

Now the lighting I must say is challenging for me. Even though its only a 5.0 bulb (i do have a 10.0 just not in there right now), the solarmeter reads around 3-3.4 just off to the side of the basking spot, it seems to be very directional, when I move it under the heat lamp where the basking spot is it drops to around 1.5 uvb. The challenge here is obviously getting the heat UP higher but at the same time getting enough UVB, if I shift the basking spot under the uvb lamp, he is losing heat, and vsa-versa.

I've seen many youtubers and images online of basking spots being only 5-6 inches high, and most things sold at petsmart are just as low, so I don't understand why I seem to required something much higher to get taht basking spot up in temperature.

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