Basking bulbs.

[DoubleD1996!]

Like most reptile keepers, I've realized the ultimate and absolute best way to heat your turtles is with natural sunlight. It's unmatched, but when forced to use artificial lighting it can be expensive. What is the best alternative to uvb bulbs, or a bulb just as effective at heating reptiles and provide a day/night cycle, but at lower cost?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

UVB bulbs are not for heat.
In fact UVB strip florescent provide almost none.
For heat you can use a regular incandescent 60 watt light bulb or a CHE or a heat panel. Depending on the size, shape and type of your enclosure.
You will still need the sun or a UVB light for UVB such as this excellent and inexpensive T5 5.0

 

[DoubleD1996!]

UVB bulbs are not for heat.
In fact UVB strip florescent provide almost none.
For heat you can use a regular incandescent 60 watt light bulb or a CHE or a heat panel. Depending on the size, shape and type of your enclosure.

Never knew that. Thanks.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

There are MVB bulbs that provide heat, UVA, UVB and light.
But they are more or less garbage and instead of a "Does it all" light.
It's a DOES NOTHING WELL light.
If that's what you currently have, I'd strongly urge you to throw it away.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

There are MVB bulbs that provide heat, UVA, UVB and light.
But they are more or less garbage and instead of a "Does it all" light.
It's a DOES NOTHING WELL light.
If that's what you currently have, I'd strongly urge you to throw it away.

I use ceramic heat bulbs combined with regular bulbs for my hatchling aquatic turtles over winter.

 

[Tom]

Like most reptile keepers, I've realized the ultimate and absolute best way to heat your turtles is with natural sunlight. It's unmatched...

This is not always the case. Not true with babies at all. They do better when housed indoors under artificial lighting, and I've proven this several times with side-by-side experiments with clutch mates.

Adults can do great outside. Babies do better inside.

To answer your question:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. You'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
3. Light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html Here in our climate, you shouldn't need indoor UV.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

This is not always the case. Not true with babies at all. They do better when housed indoors under artificial lighting, and I've proven this several times with side-by-side experiments with clutch mates.

Adults can do great outside. Babies do better inside.

To answer your question:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. You'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
3. Light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html Here in our climate, you shouldn't need indoor UV.

Thanks. This will be useful when I start hatching baby tortoises of my own.

 

[Tom]

Thanks. This will be useful when I start hatching baby tortoises of my own.

There are a lot of little things you can do to optimize hatchling and baby care. Want all of your babies to thrive and grow? Check these out:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

Sudan Sulcatas (This never gets old...)

My very first clutch of true 100% pure Sudan sulcatas is now hatching. I don't care how many times I see this, it just never gets old. I dig up the eggs carefully place them in my prepared shoe boxes, watch the temperature in the incubator and tend to them for months, and then... When that...

tortoiseforum.org

These things are not common knowledge and most breeders do not do these things. They seem to mistakenly believe sulcatas come from a desert and need dry desiccating conditions. Some breeders seem to think its too much work to house them indoors in a closed chamber, soak them once a day, and feed them an assortment of weeds instead of romaine lettuce. Many breeders choose to leave them outside all day in warmer climates, a practice which leads to slow stunted growth, pyramiding, and often death.

 

[Markw84]

I use ceramic heat bulbs combined with regular bulbs for my hatchling aquatic turtles over winter.

A ceramic heat emitter is not a good choice over a hatchling turtle if we are talking aquatic turtle. An aquarium water heater to keep water at 78°, an incandescent basking bulb, and a UVB light like the Arcadia 12" pro T5 UVB is the perfect setup I use over my hatchlings. Heat from above with no light is not a good option for turtles for basking. Keeping correct water temperature is the proper heating solution.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

A ceramic heat emitter is not a good choice over a hatchling turtle if we are talking aquatic turtle. An aquarium water heater to keep water at 78°, an incandescent basking bulb, and a UVB light like the Arcadia 12" pro T5 UVB is the perfect setup I use over my hatchlings. Heat from above with no light is not a good option for turtles for basking. Keeping correct water temperature is the proper heating solution.

Thanks for putting me on. I'll definitely invest in the T5 instead of the zoo med bulbs. They didn't seem to get warm enough. I use the ceramic bulb along with the incandescent, but I'll make that adjustment.