Just made a 31"L x 31"W x 14"H, linoleum-lined, aquarium sealant-sealed enclosure for my Russian Tortoise. I have been using exo terra lights from the pet store but I am planning to upgrade to a mega-ray bulb.
Question - is a Mega-Ray SB 100W (
http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-100-watt-self-ballasted-flood-uvb-lamp.php) in one corner of the enclosure sufficient? Should I put two in separate corners considering the enclosure size so at least half of the cage is in direct light/heat? Is that even the right bulb I would want for this situation? As I said the enclosure is 14"H so with substrate would be about a foot away give or take I suppose and clearly I could raise it up a little if it was too hot. I need to get a thermometer as I've always just used the "hand test"... not good I know. I guess I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that if a tortoise was too hot he would back up from the heat source on his own and not just sit there until he got burned...
Follow-up: considering this is the "age of specialization", why wouldn't I want to use separate lights for UVB and UVA/heat as I do now? I have an exo terra 100w "Daylight Spot" and a compact fluorescent UVB bulb (used to use exo terra for UVB too but last time had to buy some other brand that I can't recall the name of...).
Thanks,
Jacob
Question - is a Mega-Ray SB 100W (
http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-100-watt-self-ballasted-flood-uvb-lamp.php) in one corner of the enclosure sufficient? Should I put two in separate corners considering the enclosure size so at least half of the cage is in direct light/heat? Is that even the right bulb I would want for this situation? As I said the enclosure is 14"H so with substrate would be about a foot away give or take I suppose and clearly I could raise it up a little if it was too hot. I need to get a thermometer as I've always just used the "hand test"... not good I know. I guess I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that if a tortoise was too hot he would back up from the heat source on his own and not just sit there until he got burned...
Follow-up: considering this is the "age of specialization", why wouldn't I want to use separate lights for UVB and UVA/heat as I do now? I have an exo terra 100w "Daylight Spot" and a compact fluorescent UVB bulb (used to use exo terra for UVB too but last time had to buy some other brand that I can't recall the name of...).
Thanks,
Jacob