Finding the right UVB bulb and fixture

[MakJ]

Hello all,

I am struggling with finding the correct UVB bulb and fixture for my Western Hermann’s tortoise. I currently have a 10.0 UVB bulb in a dual repti zoo dome fixture because my tortoise was a baby and in a small enclosure. Now that he’s getting larger I upgraded his enclosure and am wanting to get a uvb light fixture that goes across the whole enclosure. I am looking at the Reptizoo T5 HO UVB light combo kit and I noticed that they have different options for wattage. Is wattage related to the size of the fixture? How do I choose the correct wattage for my tortoise? Also, what wattage works best with a 10.0 UVB?

 

[Tom]

Hello all,

I am struggling with finding the correct UVB bulb and fixture for my Western Hermann’s tortoise. I currently have a 10.0 UVB bulb in a dual repti zoo dome fixture because my tortoise was a baby and in a small enclosure. Now that he’s getting larger I upgraded his enclosure and am wanting to get a uvb light fixture that goes across the whole enclosure. I am looking at the Reptizoo T5 HO UVB light combo kit and I noticed that they have different options for wattage. Is wattage related to the size of the fixture? How do I choose the correct wattage for my tortoise? Also, what wattage works best with a 10.0 UVB?

Get the Arcadia ProT5 kit. Get a 12% bulb. You don't need it to go across the whole enclosure. A 22inch model will work just fine, but you can go bigger if you want. It only needs to be on for a few hours mid day.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

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. In most cases 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. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient 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 LED 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. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.