Lighting for baby Hermann

[luki]

Help. I want to adopt my first baby Hermann tortoise because I've always want them since I was a child. And I've been reading the guides about the lighting and heating in this forum, yet I am still very confused about what kind of lamp I should get and how long do I set the timer on each lamps. I have lots of question regarding the heating for the tortoise (please excuse my english as it is not my main language) :

-When I typed in UVA lamps on my online shopping site, it pops out a night heating lamp and a basking lamp(picture 1&2) Like are those the same thing??? Should I get two of these??? Or are those actually bad for my tortoise?? I read that the night lamp is to prevent the enclosure from getting cold. At night my room temp could get 23-21°C, 19°C is the most freezing point but it only happens once or twice in a rainy season. Is that an okay temperature or no for baby Hermann?

-And I just found out that spot heat lamps are bad? S-so what kind of lamp should I be getting? Should I get the long one or the basic one? (Picture 3&4)

-How far is the distance should I set between the lamp and the ground? I don't want my baby to get too heat up because I set it too close to the ground.

-when do I turned on each lamps? Do I turned it on separately or at the same time?
In the morning? Or at noon? Or at night? I know that I shouldn't turn on the light 24/7 but what kind of light do you guys recommend for lighting just incase the baby or I need to see when it gets dark?

-The lamp that I got was a package (picture 5) that comes with a lamp fitting and a small 50 watt UVB 3.0 heating lamp. Is that good enough or should I buy a new one?

-And last... Is it important to have fake plants in the tortoise enclosure?

Please provide examples in pictures so I can make sure that it is the correct types😭🙏 your help is much needed, thank you.

 

[Mr. RussianTortoise]

Help. I want to adopt my first baby Hermann tortoise because I've always want them since I was a child. And I've been reading the guides about the lighting and heating in this forum, yet I am still very confused about what kind of lamp I should get and how long do I set the timer on each lamps. I have lots of question regarding the heating for the tortoise (please excuse my english as it is not my main language) :

-When I typed in UVA lamps on my online shopping site, it pops out a night heating lamp and a basking lamp(picture 1&2) Like are those the same thing??? Should I get two of these??? Or are those actually bad for my tortoise?? I read that the night lamp is to prevent the enclosure from getting cold. At night my room temp could get 23-21°C, 19°C is the most freezing point but it only happens once or twice in a rainy season. Is that an okay temperature or no for baby Hermann?

-And I just found out that spot heat lamps are bad? S-so what kind of lamp should I be getting? Should I get the long one or the basic one? (Picture 3&4)

-How far is the distance should I set between the lamp and the ground? I don't want my baby to get too heat up because I set it too close to the ground.

-when do I turned on each lamps? Do I turned it on separately or at the same time?
In the morning? Or at noon? Or at night? I know that I shouldn't turn on the light 24/7 but what kind of light do you guys recommend for lighting just incase the baby or I need to see when it gets dark?

-The lamp that I got was a package (picture 5) that comes with a lamp fitting and a small 50 watt UVB 3.0 heating lamp. Is that good enough or should I buy a new one?

-And last... Is it important to have fake plants in the tortoise enclosure?

Please provide examples in pictures so I can make sure that it is the correct types😭🙏 your help is much needed, thank you.

I’m no expert and I have made many mistakes before. But the lamp the forum recommends is an incandescent flood bulb, just the one you get from the hardware store. You can find them on Amazon. Night lamps shouldn’t be used since it emmits light during the night. Instead get a ceramic heat emitter which doesn’t emmit any light but will still warm up your tortoise. For when you turn on the lights, I like to turn on my heat lamps and led around 10 since that’s when my tortoise wakes up, and then around 1 to 3 I turn on the UVB, lastly I turn of all the lights except the ceramic heat emitter around 6 or 7 which is around the time my tortoise sleeps. For the distance of the lights, it matters what type of wattage heat lamps you get. And the uvb you posted I have never seen before, so I don’t have much to say there, but the forum recommends reptisun 10.0 and it may be expensive but it’s important and essential, if you buy the reptisun it’ll come with 5.0 which is not the right lighting so you would have to buy a 10.0 separately. Not sure about plants, I mostly have rocks in my enclosure cause my tortoise loves to climb them but the reason I don’t put in fake plants is because I worry that my tortoise will mistake it for food and eat it (might be just me). I’m no expert and an expert may come and correct me. 🐢

 

[wellington]

Good advice given. Just do not use mercury vapor bulbs, halogen bulbs or coil (cfl) bulbs or red bulbs.
He will need a closed chamber enclosure for about three years for a hatchling with 80% humidity. About 30-50% humidity for 3 years on up.

 

[luki]

Thank you so much for your answer!!! ❤
So does that mean that UVA lamp and heating lamp are the same? I'm just worried I might get the wrong lamp haha.
And if I'm not wrong, if I can bask them under the sunlight during the day, there is no need for me to use the heating lamp correct?
Some brands the forum recommended here aren't available in my local area/online site, and using amazon would cost me alot on taxes since it's imported from outside, that's why I'm trying to search the alternative of what I can find near me. But I manage to find the reptisun 10.0!! I'll try to find the heating flood bulb near my hardware store later.
I attached another picture below, is that the correct ceramic heat emitter?
And if you don't mind, can I see how you set your lamps? I just want to know how to set it properly, like where to put the UVA or UVB or the CHE and what kind of fitting lamps to use😅
Oh and one more thing!!
For the heating lamp, should I buy the 50 w or the 75 w?
And the reptisun 10.0, 13w or 26w?
Thank you again!!💕

I’m no expert and I have made many mistakes before. But the lamp the forum recommends is an incandescent flood bulb, just the one you get from the hardware store. You can find them on Amazon. Night lamps shouldn’t be used since it emmits light during the night. Instead get a ceramic heat emitter which doesn’t emmit any light but will still warm up your tortoise. For when you turn on the lights, I like to turn on my heat lamps and led around 10 since that’s when my tortoise wakes up, and then around 1 to 3 I turn on the UVB, lastly I turn of all the lights except the ceramic heat emitter around 6 or 7 which is around the time my tortoise sleeps. For the distance of the lights, it matters what type of wattage heat lamps you get. And the uvb you posted I have never seen before, so I don’t have much to say there, but the forum recommends reptisun 10.0 and it may be expensive but it’s important and essential, if you buy the reptisun it’ll come with 5.0 which is not the right lighting so you would have to buy a 10.0 separately. Not sure about plants, I mostly have rocks in my enclosure cause my tortoise loves to climb them but the reason I don’t put in fake plants is because I worry that my tortoise will mistake it for food and eat it (might be just me). I’m no expert and an expert may come and correct me. 🐢

 

[luki]

Good advice given. Just do not use mercury vapor bulbs, halogen bulbs or coil (cfl) bulbs or red bulbs.
He will need a closed chamber enclosure for about three years for a hatchling with 80% humidity. About 30-50% humidity for 3 years on up.

Ah so, is this one a no go?

 

[Mr. RussianTortoise]

Ah so, is this one a no go?

Yeah, it doesn’t emmit enough uvb and it hurts your tortoises eyes, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PNK42W8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 instead get this, the bulb size matters to the size of the hood. The uvb should cover half of the enclosure 🐢

 

[wellington]

Ah so, is this one a no go?

Yes, they can cause eye problems and don't give out great uvb anyway.

 

[luki]

Yeah, it doesn’t emmit enough uvb and it hurts your tortoises eyes, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PNK42W8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 instead get this, the bulb size matters to the size of the hood. The uvb should cover half of the enclosure 🐢

Thank you sm!!

 

[Tom]

Help. I want to adopt my first baby Hermann tortoise because I've always want them since I was a child. And I've been reading the guides about the lighting and heating in this forum, yet I am still very confused about what kind of lamp I should get and how long do I set the timer on each lamps. I have lots of question regarding the heating for the tortoise (please excuse my english as it is not my main language) :

-When I typed in UVA lamps on my online shopping site, it pops out a night heating lamp and a basking lamp(picture 1&2) Like are those the same thing??? Should I get two of these??? Or are those actually bad for my tortoise?? I read that the night lamp is to prevent the enclosure from getting cold. At night my room temp could get 23-21°C, 19°C is the most freezing point but it only happens once or twice in a rainy season. Is that an okay temperature or no for baby Hermann?

-And I just found out that spot heat lamps are bad? S-so what kind of lamp should I be getting? Should I get the long one or the basic one? (Picture 3&4)

-How far is the distance should I set between the lamp and the ground? I don't want my baby to get too heat up because I set it too close to the ground.

-when do I turned on each lamps? Do I turned it on separately or at the same time?
In the morning? Or at noon? Or at night? I know that I shouldn't turn on the light 24/7 but what kind of light do you guys recommend for lighting just incase the baby or I need to see when it gets dark?

-The lamp that I got was a package (picture 5) that comes with a lamp fitting and a small 50 watt UVB 3.0 heating lamp. Is that good enough or should I buy a new one?

-And last... Is it important to have fake plants in the tortoise enclosure?

Please provide examples in pictures so I can make sure that it is the correct types😭🙏 your help is much needed, thank you.

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.

You do not need night heat for a hermanni at those temperatures.

I do not recommend fake plants. Tortoises will eat them and can get impacted. Use the right types of real plants.

Start here and look for the temperate species care sheet near the bottom. Questions are welcome.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[luki]

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.

You do not need night heat for a hermanni at those temperatures.

I do not recommend fake plants. Tortoises will eat them and can get impacted. Use the right types of real plants.

Start here and look for the temperate species care sheet near the bottom. Questions are welcome.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Noted! Thank you!