UV Question

[Nobody]

I have a Baby Sulcata tortoise which I house indoors but I take him out everyday for an hour to get direct morning sunshine.I also also take him out late afternoons for an hour.My question is if I would add an UVB lamp in his indoor enclosure,would it still benefit my Sulcata tortoise ?Or I might over do it that it will do him more harm than good?
Thanks.

 

[stells]

I would still have a UVB lamp indoors too... 2 hours of sunlight isn't nowhere near enough IMHO...

 

[Tom]

Using the UV indoors won't hurt anything, but I think two hours of tropical sun every single day will keep him happy and healthy. I don't use UV indoors on mine unless we have an unusual cold or rainy spell and I can't get them out for a couple of weeks. Then I break out the calcium supplement with the D3 in it, too.

 

[Madkins007]

The thing about UVB/D3 that is troubling is that we really don't know how much they need. Humans in the temperate zone (most of the US) are believed to only need about 5-30 minutes a day twice a week for health.

One has to wonder if tortoises really need 12 hours of UVB a day- but there is no real evidence it is bad for them either. I would say that the natural sun exposure is probably enough, but a bulb might be good insurance.