Lighting advice for large red foot tortoise enclosure?

[WrinklyTortoiseNeck]

I'm building an indoor enclosure for my 11 year old red footed tortoise. We live in the Midwest where I have to keep him inside for most of the year so I wanted to make sure the lighting and heating was correct. His enclosure measures a little over 24 square feet and is going to be 32 inches in height. I've been using a 100W mercury vapor light for him, but I was told those aren't really efficient and should switch over to just UVB bulbs. I'm honestly lost and confused on which UVB bulbs would be best since there seems to be different wattages for different heights. Would it be alright to have the mercury bulb I have now in the enclosure as well? I'd like to use it up since it wasn't cheap but I know I should only keep it on during the day. I'm planning on getting a CHE too to run during the day and night. What wattage should I look for? I was thinking either 100 or 150W but don't know which would be best for the size of the enclosure. The enclosure is going to be fully enclosed with plexiglass and plywood so minimal heat should escape.

 

[wellington]

24 square feet is big enough for one adult Russian. A adult RF needs bigger then that.
@ZEROPILOT

 

[WrinklyTortoiseNeck]

24 square feet is big enough for one adult Russian. A adult RF needs bigger then that.
@ZEROPILOT

I'm aware. My tortoise is around 10 inches long but I know he will need a bigger enclosure. This is the largest indoor enclosure I can build for him for the time being since we're going to move within 3 years. I would appreciate advice to make the current situation optimal.

 

[wellington]

I'm aware. My tortoise is around 10 inches long but I know he will need a bigger enclosure. This is the largest indoor enclosure I can build for him for the time being since we're going to move within 3 years. I would appreciate advice to make the current situation optimal.

I tagged ZEROPILOT for you. He can help.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Three feet tall is about twice as high as you'll need. But that's not a problem. And the total square footage is too small. But you're aware of that.
I suggest you emove all "decorative items" and only include essential things in the enclosure to free up all of the available space.
Get rid of the MVB right away. It's too bright and too desicating for a Redfoot.
Use a T5 5.0 strip florescent lamp. Or provide a few hours of outdoors sun per week for his UVB needs. Redfoot aren't a species that requires a ton of UVB as long as they have a correct and varied diet. And Redfoot can eat the widest variety of foods. So take advantage of that.
However you keep the enclosure....
Or the entire room warm comes down to what works for you. But you want it to be from 80 to 86. I'd use a CHE on a thermostat. Mostly because they last a very long time and they don't put out a lot of extra light. Redfoot do not like bright lights. (Or high heat)
CHE are also less desicating than MVB or Incandescent heat sources with light. So it helps keeping up the humidity...
And THIS will be your biggest issue:
Humidity.
It needs to be over 70% all of the time.
Converting a large indoor enclosure to a "closed chamber" enclosure takes some engineering work. Some keepers use mini greenhouses. Or large plastic totes.
As for me, it's easy. My environment outside is almost ideal. So while I can answer your Redfoot questions, I have minimal experience with large indoor enclosures.
I'm one of the lucky ones

 

[WrinklyTortoiseNeck]

Three feet tall is about twice as high as you'll need. And the total square footage is too small. As you know. Remove all "decorative items" and only include essential things in the enclosure to free up all of the space.
Get rid of the MVB right away. It's too bright and too desicating for a Redfoot.
Use a T5 5.0 strip florescent lamp. Or provide a few hours of outdoors sun per week for his UVB needs. Redfoot aren't a species that requires a ton of UVB as long as they have a correct and varied diet. And Redfoot can eat the widest variety of foods. So take advantage of that.
However you keep the enclosure....
Or the entire room comes down to what works for you. But you want it to be from 80 to 86. I'd use a CHE on a thermostat. Mostly because they last a very long time and they don't put out a lot of extra light. Redfoot do not like bright lights. (Or high heat)
CHE are also less desicating than MVB or Incandescent heat sources with light. So it helps keeping up the humidity...
And THIS will be your biggest issue:
Humidity.
It needs to be over 70% all of the time.
Converting a large indoor enclosure to a "closed chamber" enclosure takes some engineering work. Some keepers use mini greenhouses. Or large plastic totes.
As for me, it's easy. My environment outside is almost ideal. So while I can answer your Redfoot questions, I have minimal experience with large indoor enclosures.
I'm one of the lucky ones

Thank you! I'll probably scale down the height of the enclosure a bit then. I was planning on hanging lights and other fixtures from a crossbeam sorta thing from a bit lower than the top. Do you have experience with CHE with different wattages? I'm looking at 100 and 150W ones but I'm not sure how much heat they give off.

 

[WrinklyTortoiseNeck]

Also, what length T5 5.0 UVB bulb should I get? Would a 22 inch be sufficient or should I look into the 34 inch?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Also, what length T5 5.0 UVB bulb should I get? Would a 22 inch be sufficient or should I look into the 34 inch?

For a Redfoot, either will do.
But the 34" might be easier for you to mount.
It might come down to which one is easier to find.
I hear the 24" (22") are difficult to purchase.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thank you! I'll probably scale down the height of the enclosure a bit then. I was planning on hanging lights and other fixtures from a crossbeam sorta thing from a bit lower than the top. Do you have experience with CHE with different wattages? I'm looking at 100 and 150W ones but I'm not sure how much heat they give off.

The 100 watt should be fine.
However, you may need two spaced apart from each other to avoid hot spots and cool spots.
An ambient, all over temperature of 80 to 86 is wanted. With 82 to 84 being just perfect

 

[Lyn W]

Can you add a second floor with a ramp and secure rails to give him more floor space?