Lighting & heating

[Sophsophes49]

Hi, I have 2 11 month old Herman tortoises. I have been given the wrong advice many times, so want to clarify a few things please. First off, I live in a home that is quite cold. I was told to just get basking light that is also a UV light. I now know this is wrong. So to clarify, I need to purchase a UV led light and a separate basking light with a hood. The UV led light only goes on for a few hours a day. The basking light for 12 hours. As my house is cold at night, even in the summer, should I purchase a heat mat for them?
Thank you for your time who ever replies back.

 

[wellington]

For uvb get a tube florescent bulb, for basking get an incandescent flood bulb and for added day heat if needed and night heat use a ceramic heat emitter.
Tortoises should not be housed in pairs so be sure to house them in their own enclosure. They do not want or need a friend. They live along in the wild and only cross paths to breed or fight

 

[Sophsophes49]

For uvb get a tube florescent bulb, for basking get an incandescent flood bulb and for added day heat if needed and night heat use a ceramic heat emitter.
Tortoises should not be housed in pairs so be sure to house them in their own enclosure. They do not want or need a friend. They live along in the wild and only cross paths to breed or fight

Thank you. I thought the UV light needed to be

For uvb get a tube florescent bulb, for basking get an incandescent flood bulb and for added day heat if needed and night heat use a ceramic heat emitter.
Tortoises should not be housed in pairs so be sure to house them in their own enclosure. They do not want or need a friend. They live along in the wild and only cross paths to breed or fight

Thank you for your response . Why can’t the UV light be a bulb light? Is that harmful for them? I’ll get the ceramic heat bulb as well and it’s ok to keep that on all night long, even though it’s admitting some form of light? I only ask, because it would be dark in the wild at night. Do you not recommend the heat mats then?

 

[wellington]

Thank you. I thought the UV light needed to be

Thank you for your response . Why can’t the UV light be a bulb light? Is that harmful for them? I’ll get the ceramic heat bulb as well and it’s ok to keep that on all night long, even though it’s admitting some form of light? I only ask, because it would be dark in the wild at night. Do you not recommend the heat mats then?

The coil type is bad for their eyes and the mercury vapor bulbs are to harsh on their shells and cause pyramiding even in the best humidity.

 

[Tom]

Hi, I have 2 11 month old Herman tortoises. I have been given the wrong advice many times, so want to clarify a few things please. First off, I live in a home that is quite cold. I was told to just get basking light that is also a UV light. I now know this is wrong. So to clarify, I need to purchase a UV led light and a separate basking light with a hood. The UV led light only goes on for a few hours a day. The basking light for 12 hours. As my house is cold at night, even in the summer, should I purchase a heat mat for them?
Thank you for your time who ever replies back.

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.

Please give this whole thing a read:

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

 

[Sophsophes49]

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.

Please give this whole thing a read:

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

Hi Tom, thank you. I have now got the right basking light & CHE. I am looking at UV & LED lights now. It would appear that you can buy them as 1. Would you recommend that or get them separately. I can see an LED light that is colour changing that I can get? The hardware stores & pet stores near me are not great. I am looking on line for lighting. I can see an 8 watt UV strip light. Would this be ok. There are so many options on line!

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom, thank you. I have now got the right basking light & CHE. I am looking at UV & LED lights now. It would appear that you can buy them as 1. Would you recommend that or get them separately. I can see an LED light that is colour changing that I can get? The hardware stores & pet stores near me are not great. I am looking on line for lighting. I can see an 8 watt UV strip light. Would this be ok. There are so many options on line!

Get the LED and UV separate. You will run the LED along with the basking lamp for at least 12 hours a day to simulate a bright sunny day, but the UV tube only needs to be on for a few hours mid day, to simulate what happens with the UV outside each day.

Any LED is fine. Strips or screw-in type bulbs. Look for one in the 5000-6500K color range. This info will be listed on the package.

 

[Sophsophes49]

Get the LED and UV separate. You will run the LED along with the basking lamp for at least 12 hours a day to simulate a bright sunny day, but the UV tube only needs to be on for a few hours mid day, to simulate what happens with the UV outside each day.

Any LED is fine. Strips or screw-in type bulbs. Look for one in the 5000-6500K color range. This info will be listed on the package.

Thanks Tom! It’s such a shame all the information I’ve been given to date by the pets store, breeder & book has been wrong. Just to clarify, I’ll be running te basking light, LED light for 12 hours. The CHE light will probably run 24 hours a day as my house is so cold, but I’ll keep checking the temperature to see & the UV light will be for 3 hours a day but won’t be needed as much as they get older & can go outside. I read on here that when they are babies and under a year they don’t need to be let outside. Would you agree with that as there seems to be a difference in opinion.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Tom! It’s such a shame all the information I’ve been given to date by the pets store, breeder & book has been wrong. Just to clarify, I’ll be running te basking light, LED light for 12 hours. The CHE light will probably run 24 hours a day as my house is so cold, but I’ll keep checking the temperature to see & the UV light will be for 3 hours a day but won’t be needed as much as they get older & can go outside. I read on here that when they are babies and under a year they don’t need to be let outside. Would you agree with that as there seems to be a difference in opinion.

Have the CHE set on a thermostat. Then it won't be on unless it is needed.

Its a commonly stated fallacy that "tortoises do better outside". There are many caveats that need to be taken into consideration here. In general, with the right enclosure, and the right climate, I do think that adult tortoises do better in large, well planted, naturalistic outdoor enclosures. But in the wrong climate, or in a poorly designed small enclosure, I think that animal would fare better in a large correctly set up and maintained indoor enclosure. There are so many variables to consider in a blanket statement "tortoises do better outside".

Baby tortoises to better inside. I have done multiple side-by-side experiments with multiple species to prove this fact. Climate doesn't matter. Attention to detail of the outdoor enclosure doesn't matter. Babies grow faster and smoother on the same amount of the same food, when kept correctly indoors verses an outdoor enclosure. I have yet to find a person who argues this point with me that has also done similar experiments and reached a different conclusion. So far, everyone who disagrees with this bases their argument on their feelings and misguided (misguided by books, the internet, and pet shops...) perceptions. Same thing with the closed chamber/viv argument vs. open topped tables.

 

[Sophsophes49]

Have the CHE set on a thermostat. Then it won't be on unless it is needed.

Its a commonly stated fallacy that "tortoises do better outside". There are many caveats that need to be taken into consideration here. In general, with the right enclosure, and the right climate, I do think that adult tortoises do better in large, well planted, naturalistic outdoor enclosures. But in the wrong climate, or in a poorly designed small enclosure, I think that animal would fare better in a large correctly set up and maintained indoor enclosure. There are so many variables to consider in a blanket statement "tortoises do better outside".

Baby tortoises to better inside. I have done multiple side-by-side experiments with multiple species to prove this fact. Climate doesn't matter. Attention to detail of the outdoor enclosure doesn't matter. Babies grow faster and smoother on the same amount of the same food, when kept correctly indoors verses an outdoor enclosure. I have yet to find a person who argues this point with me that has also done similar experiments and reached a different conclusion. So far, everyone who disagrees with this bases their argument on their feelings and misguided (misguided by books, the internet, and pet shops...) perceptions. Same thing with the closed chamber/viv argument vs. open topped tables.

Thanks. How do you get a thermostat for the CHE? That sounds way too technical for me! I was just going to keep checking the temperature.

Thanks for sharing the indoor/ outdoor key themes to consider.

I was told that the open top table was better for the tortoises with a closed lid section for them. Please say this has at least been sound advice!

 

[PollyAda]

Thanks. How do you get a thermostat for the CHE? That sounds way too technical for me! I was just going to keep checking the temperature.

Thanks for sharing the indoor/ outdoor key themes to consider.

I was told that the open top table was better for the tortoises with a closed lid section for them. Please say this has at least been sound advice!

There's the Habistat pulse or dimming thermostats:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01B6FRU8M/?tag=

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BFHQOW4/?tag=

Pulse is recommended by Habistat for CHE

 

[Tom]

Thanks. How do you get a thermostat for the CHE? That sounds way too technical for me! I was just going to keep checking the temperature.

Thanks for sharing the indoor/ outdoor key themes to consider.

I was told that the open top table was better for the tortoises with a closed lid section for them. Please say this has at least been sound advice!

Its really easy. They have some cheaper ones on Amazon for $18-30 US. You just plug the thermostat into the wall, set the temp where you want it to be, put the thermostat's probe over on the cool side of the enclosure away from the heating bulbs, and then plug your heating device into it. So simple and easy. Then check your thermometer frequently over the next few days and make minor adjustments as needed to get and hold the desired temperatures. After fine tuning, it will simply hold your temperature right where you want it automatically.

When your tortoises get bigger, or when the weather is warmer, you can get really fancy and plug the thermostat into an appliance timer, like the ones that turn house lamps on and off automatically. This will allow your thermostat and CHE to keep warmer temps during the day, but shut off at night to allow for the night temp to drop a bit, as it should for hermanni.

 

[Sophsophes49]

Its really easy. They have some cheaper ones on Amazon for $18-30 US. You just plug the thermostat into the wall, set the temp where you want it to be, put the thermostat's probe over on the cool side of the enclosure away from the heating bulbs, and then plug your heating device into it. So simple and easy. Then check your thermometer frequently over the next few days and make minor adjustments as needed to get and hold the desired temperatures. After fine tuning, it will simply hold your temperature right where you want it automatically.

When your tortoises get bigger, or when the weather is warmer, you can get really fancy and plug the thermostat into an appliance timer, like the ones that turn house lamps on and off automatically. This will allow your thermostat and CHE to keep warmer temps during the day, but shut off at night to allow for the night temp to drop a bit, as it should for hermanni.

Thank you. You have really helped! I’ll look on Amazon for a cheaper one. Have you done any you tube videos to demonstrate all of this?! I’d definitely subscribe to you! I’m much more of a kinaesthetic learner so it might be a bit of trial and error at first. I like the idea of plugging it into a timer and getting all fancy. It all sounds very technical for someone like me though,

 

[Tom]

Thank you. You have really helped! I’ll look on Amazon for a cheaper one. Have you done any you tube videos to demonstrate all of this?! I’d definitely subscribe to you! I’m much more of a kinaesthetic learner so it might be a bit of trial and error at first. I like the idea of plugging it into a timer and getting all fancy. It all sounds very technical for someone like me though,

No YT videos here. I don't have the time or the computer skills.