The basking light

spanna

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Hi all...I'm new to all this and want everything to be right. I have a 7 month old horsefield tortoise. Do I leave the basking light on over night and turn the uv light off or turn both of them off? Any tips would be very grateful! x
 

Abdulla6169

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Hi all...I'm new to all this and want everything to be right. I have a 7 month old horsefield tortoise. Do I leave the basking light on over night and turn the uv light off or turn both of them off? Any tips would be very grateful! x
Turn both off, it can result in complication if you don't...
 

spanna

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That's what I was worried about, even in the winter when the temperatures drop?
 

spanna

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I have a basking light already and was asking if I should leave it on over night or turn all the lights off. However, I've been advised to get a ceramic heat emitter and thought this was the right one. What's you opinion?
 

spanna

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I've just checked Zeus' open top vivarium and the temperature states it's 95F with the basking light and uv light on. Is this ok?
 

Yvonne G

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You want a bit of a drop in temperature between day and night. Night should be dark, just like in the real world. Also, in the real world, night is usually cooler than day. The tortoises have evolved with this discrepancy and are used to it. Russian tortoise, especially, need a cooler night time. Since your tortoise is a youngster, it shouldn't be too cool at night, but a slight drop is fine. The question as to when to turn off the 'heat' depends upon the temperature in your house. You have to measure all over the floor of the habitat and use the CHE and the lights to maintain the temperature you're looking for, turning them on or off, raising or lowering the fixture until you get the temperatures you want.

It would be better to measure the temperature with a point-and-shoot gun. That way you get the floor of the habitat and not just one small space up on a wall. You try for a gradient with a warm side, then hot directly under the light, then a cooler side. This way the tortoise can thermoregulate.
 

WillTort2

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Looks much too hot for the side of the enclosure. Look for a temperature of 95 to 100 only under the basking light.

Check out Tom's advice for hatchlings. You do need warm temperatures and high humidity for a healthy young tortoise. After the juvenile stage the humidity can be dropped some.
 

ditzyangeluk

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What temperature should it be at night please? My torts sleep in a little house (see pic) but would still like the enclosure to be warm enough overall


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