Feel like a steam room inside the enclosure

[paemaker]

I agree with Zeropilot. As long as you are using the correct lights, not coil or halogen, but incandescent, even a regular incandescent, a tube for uvb and ceramic heat emitter for night and added day heat, then you are doing fine, and tweak what you need to, to get it where it needs to be

Right now the only thing I'm concerned about besides of a steam room enclosure is the UVB bulb. I know CFL bulbs are bad for tortoises or reptiles. The only problem is a fixture, these items are very expensive but the tube itself is quite affordable. My question is does the tube have to be installed with its fixture or any kind of fixture is fine too?

In terms of reflectors and some features of the fixture, are they (ZooMed fixture and normal fixture) comparable?

The one I'm looking at is the ZooMed Reptisun T5 HO. It's the best I can find in the market. Also Arcadia is not available in my country.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

1. Sounds sane. Leave the LED, as ambient light is a good thing (it gives some heat, but not much). Incadescent bulbs are fine for basking (and your tortoise proves that) The pink color of the glass is the only thing that confuses me, but as your tortoise don't try to eat substrate it's probably okay.

2. 78-79F at night is a good temperature and if it stays this way, then there is no urgent need in CHE (you can add it with a thermostat, though, just to be sure about night temps).

3. 2-4 hours a day for UVB is to mimic the natural sunlight (if you have checked the UV index in the weather forecast, you know, that UV is high for several hours around midday). And this helps UV lamp to last longer. And somewhat helps to reduce damage to tortoise eyes while you use compact coil lamp (but try to replace it with T5 asap, please).

 

[paemaker]

The coiled bulb could be damaging your tortoise's eyes. You should just remove it until you get the T5 bulb.

Yes, I'll do asap. Please help me answer the questions above. It'll be very useful information for me.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

On UVB lamps: it's better to use them with a special fixture. Reflector is not that critical, but the fixture itself has some electronic circuitry inside (ballast, driver and such) to ensure correct lamp operation, I didn't dive that much into the technical part to explain how it works (but you can search the forum, there were discussions on the topic).

ZooMed makes good lamps and fixtures, comparable with Arcadia in terms of quality and lamp life. So ReptiSun 10.0 would be a good choice.

If you are skilled in electronics and engineering you can choose and tweak any fixture, maybe. I'm not *that* good at this.

Just in case: you don't need the long tube as UV should be provided only at the basking spot. 18-22" should be enough.

 

[paemaker]

1. Sounds sane. Leave the LED, as ambient light is a good thing (it gives some heat, but not much). Incadescent bulbs are fine for basking (and your tortoise proves that) The pink color of the glass is the only thing that confuses me, but as your tortoise don't try to eat substrate it's probably okay.

2. 78-79F at night is a good temperature and if it stays this way, then there is no urgent need in CHE (you can add it with a thermostat, though, just to be sure about night temps).

3. 2-4 hours a day for UVB is to mimic the natural sunlight (if you have checked the UV index in the weather forecast, you know, that UV is high for several hours around midday). And this helps UV lamp to last longer. And somewhat helps to reduce damage to tortoise eyes while you use compact coil lamp (but try to replace it with T5 asap, please).

1. It's lucky for me because my tortoise has stopped eating the substrate for some time now. And the pink color confused you because the bulb is coated in blue and probably my phone did something to it and it turned out to be pink, so please don't worry about it.
2. Thank god I don't have to take my savings to buy the CHE haha. Actually, I have an IR bulb for the night but since people don't recommend it, I don't use it anymore.
3. That's very helpful. The longer it's on the shorter lifespan it becomes. So can I leave it on for an hour, turn it off, and repeat this 4 times, or leave it on straight for 4 hours?

 

[paemaker]

Yes. I had a coil type on my new Russians and very shortly their eyes were swollen nearly shut. Read on TF the reason why. Took it away and they were fine in no time.

WOW, that's really crazy. I always wonder what it can do to my tortoise and how severe it can be. Now you gave me a really great example, I have no doubt about it no more. BTW are your tortoises recovered?

 

[paemaker]

On UVB lamps: it's better to use them with a special fixture. Reflector is not that critical, but the fixture itself has some electronic circuitry inside (ballast, driver and such) to ensure correct lamp operation, I didn't dive that much into the technical part to explain how it works (but you can search the forum, there were discussions on the topic).

ZooMed makes good lamps and fixtures, comparable with Arcadia in terms of quality and lamp life. So ReptiSun 10.0 would be a good choice.

If you are skilled in electronics and engineering you can choose and tweak any fixture, maybe. I'm not *that* good at this.

Just in case: you don't need the long tube as UV should be provided only at the basking spot. 18-22" should be enough.

It's good to know and hurt at the same time too. If it was okay to use a normal fixture, I'd probably order a tube today, but I can understand that. It's not just any tube, it's the UVB tube. It needs a special fixture just like you mentioned. Now let's continue saving money shall I haha 😂

The fixture alone is double the price of a tube. If I converted from my country's currency to USD, it'd be 64 USD and the Reptisun 10.0 would be half of the fixture's price. And! can't forget this, this is just the shortest they have at 24 inches. That's a big pile of money I have to spend.

 

[wellington]

1. Sounds sane. Leave the LED, as ambient light is a good thing (it gives some heat, but not much). Incadescent bulbs are fine for basking (and your tortoise proves that) The pink color of the glass is the only thing that confuses me, but as your tortoise don't try to eat substrate it's probably okay.

2. 78-79F at night is a good temperature and if it stays this way, then there is no urgent need in CHE (you can add it with a thermostat, though, just to be sure about night temps).

3. 2-4 hours a day for UVB is to mimic the natural sunlight (if you have checked the UV index in the weather forecast, you know, that UV is high for several hours around midday). And this helps UV lamp to last longer. And somewhat helps to reduce damage to tortoise eyes while you use compact coil lamp (but try to replace it with T5 asap, please).

Actually for a sulcata, 80- more like 85 is recommended day and night.

 

[wellington]

It's good to know and hurt at the same time too. If it was okay to use a normal fixture, I'd probably order a tube today, but I can understand that. It's not just any tube, it's the UVB tube. It needs a special fixture just like you mentioned. Now let's continue saving money shall I haha 😂

The fixture alone is double the price of a tube. If I converted from my country's currency to USD, it'd be 64 USD and the Reptisun 10.0 would be half of the fixture's price. And! can't forget this, this is just the shortest they have at 24 inches. That's a big pile of money I have to spend.

Unfortunately that's the way it goes. Tortoises are not cheap to maintain.
But using bulbs that can cause damage will cost you a lot more in the long run.
The reptisun lights are fine to use I regular fluorescent fixture from a hardware store is fine to use, if you can find one that fits the bulb pins.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

That's a relief, that regular fixtures work fine! I'll have to search the thread about ballasts and all the stuff. Maybe I've got something wrong.

Your IR lamp perhaps could be used at night to rise temperatures. If it's "deep heat projector" type and doesn't give any light.

I think it's better to use UVB lamp for 4 hours, than 4 times by 1 hour.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Searched the forum a bit. So far, I wasn't completely wrong
1. Yes, you can use cheaper fixture with a branded UVB lamp.
2. Wattage on the fixture should match the wattage of the lamp. Few watts off is not an issue.
3. Fixture should be for T5 High output (HO) lamps, not for just T5.
4. Very cheap fixtures might meld (plastic doesn't withstand high temperatures).
5. Reflectors make a big difference in amount of UV. As does mounting height.
6. On/off cycles shorten lamp lifetime. The less the better.

 

[SuzanneZ]

WOW, that's really crazy. I always wonder what it can do to my tortoise and how severe it can be. Now you gave me a really great example, I have no doubt about it no more. BTW are your tortoises recovered?

Their eyes, yes, and very quickly. One has issues not related to the bulb. And it's still sold as if bad things didn't happen.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

@paemaker If the weather allows to bring your tortoise outside for an hour or two several days a week this could solve the UVB problem.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Sadly I just removed it after I got a new enclosure. Now I'm using coco coir. Can orchid bark be on top of the coco coir? Will that work?

I think so.
I'm just not 100% that coir is as resistant to mold as the Orchid (Fir) bark

 

[Cathie G]

Sadly I just removed it after I got a new enclosure. Now I'm using coco coir. Can orchid bark be on top of the coco coir? Will that work?

I like it mixed with the orchid bark. So I'd say yes. That's what I use half and half for my Russian. 🤗

 

[paemaker]

Unfortunately that's the way it goes. Tortoises are not cheap to maintain.
But using bulbs that can cause damage will cost you a lot more in the long run.
The reptisun lights are fine to use I regular fluorescent fixture from a hardware store is fine to use, if you can find one that fits the bulb pins.

Oh yeah, I'll find the one that fits this Reptisun. Is there anything specific I need to know before buying a regular fixture? I'd love to know more information and I'll go find it too.

 

[paemaker]

Searched the forum a bit. So far, I wasn't completely wrong
1. Yes, you can use cheaper fixture with a branded UVB lamp.
2. Wattage on the fixture should match the wattage of the lamp. Few watts off is not an issue.
3. Fixture should be for T5 High output (HO) lamps, not for just T5.
4. Very cheap fixtures might meld (plastic doesn't withstand high temperatures).
5. Reflectors make a big difference in amount of UV. As does mounting height.
6. On/off cycles shorten lamp lifetime. The less the better.

That's great info you got there. It seems that I need to find a very special but regular fixture. I hope I can find it somewhere out there, otherwise, I'll have to go with its fixture. Did you find this info in this forum? if it was, I may have to go take a look at it too.

 

[wellington]

Oh yeah, I'll find the one that fits this Reptisun. Is there anything specific I need to know before buying a regular fixture? I'd love to know more information and I'll go find it too.

@Tom is the one years ago that said a regular fluorescent fixture could be used
He would know or remember more about it than me.

 

[paemaker]

Their eyes, yes, and very quickly. One has issues not related to the bulb. And it's still sold as if bad things didn't happen.

I hope people can learn what is best for their reptiles. These bulbs keep selling and making a profit for them as the number of new keepers keeps growing.
It's good to know your tortoise is okay

 

[paemaker]

@paemaker If the weather allows to bring your tortoise outside for an hour or two several days a week this could solve the UVB problem.

I'd be more than happy to do it but I live in an apartment and my room, even the balcony doesn't get exposed to the sun so I try to get my tortoise outdoors at least once a week.