How long to leave lights on?

[Joel C.]

I have a sulcata turtles baby. I have two lights on, one light for the hot zone and a basking light. Should they be on at the same time? I have them on from 7 am till 7 pm. Should I have a night light?

 

[Tom]

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. This bulb should be on for around 12 hours to simulate the sun outside. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot. I like the overnight low to be 80, and daytime high to rise into the low 90s for a sulcata baby. It should be dark at night.
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 like sulcatas or leopards. I like this thermostat: https://www.lllreptile.com/products/13883-zilla-1000-watt-temperature-controller. Put the probe in the coolest corner away from all heating elements. This will keep the whole enclosure around 80, and during the day your basking lamp can heat it up even more. Neither of these heating elements emit any light, so your tortoise can sleep peacefully in the darkness.
3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent.
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. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height.

Check these out for the correct care info:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Joel C.]

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. This bulb should be on for around 12 hours to simulate the sun outside. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot. I like the overnight low to be 80, and daytime high to rise into the low 90s for a sulcata baby. It should be dark at night.
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 like sulcatas or leopards. I like this thermostat: https://www.lllreptile.com/products/13883-zilla-1000-watt-temperature-controller. Put the probe in the coolest corner away from all heating elements. This will keep the whole enclosure around 80, and during the day your basking lamp can heat it up even more. Neither of these heating elements emit any light, so your tortoise can sleep peacefully in the darkness.
3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent.
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. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height.

Check these out for the correct care info:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Thanks, Tom.