Need help with baby red foot lighting!

toothlesstort

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Hi! I'm new to the forum as well as a new tortoise owner and really need some advice. I got a 3-4 month old red foot (named Toothless!) yesterday and set up a small temporary enclosure for it. My main concern is its lighting.

I'm currently just using a standard LED bulb (7 watts, warm white, model is EBI107WW) since that's all I could find/buy yesterday. I have been researching all day about what types of light it needs for heat and UVB and have just ended up extremely confused and feeling really stupid. I've seen posts that recommend a CHE which I don't think I can use since both this enclosure and the bigger one that I bought online recently are both made of plastic. Some say to get a MVB but then others say that it causes pyramiding and damage to the carapace, while some recommend getting a UVB tube light plus a basking light.

For context, I live in the Philippines where it's generally already hot and humid. Of course, I'm still going to be monitoring the temperatures and such (I have a thermo/hygrometer coming soon), but I saw a local Youtuber say that a UVB light is enough, no need for a heat source. I also recently saw this comment on the forum: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/is-this-a-good-bulb.186302/#post-1874831 saying that I don't need a spot bulb or basking lamp at all, just a fluorecent/LED light. Am I just misinterpreting this?

Would appreciate any advice on this as well as recommendations for products, if needed. Thank you so much!

link to future enclosure (55L): https://shp.ee/r8dkn4j
link to a reddit post I made with more info about Toothless:
IMG_7874.jpg
 
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Cherryshell

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@ZEROPILOT is our resident RF guru

I will say though that you'll need to expand your torts enclosure relatively soon. RFs do need high humidity and a temp consistently in the low-to-mid 80s F (27-29C). Does the tort have an outdoor enclosure or do you put this whole enclosure outside when the sun is out?
 
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toothlesstort

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@ZEROPILOT is our resident RF guru

I will say though that you'll need to expand your torts enclosure relatively soon. RFs do need high humidity and a temp consistently in the low-to-mid 80s F (27-29C). Does the tort have an outdoor enclosure or do you put this whole enclosure outside when the sun is out?
Is the enclosure that I linked enough space, at least for a few months? Its dimensions are going to be about 27.5L x 15.5W x 11.5H inches.

Today was its first full day with us, so I haven't really put it outside under the sun apart from when I soaked it this morning. I live in an apartment facing the morning sun, and am planning to place the enclosure out on the balcony for a while tomorrow after I soak it. Would that be alright?
 

Cherryshell

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Is the enclosure that I linked enough space, at least for a few months? Its dimensions are going to be about 27.5L x 15.5W x 11.5H inches.

Today was its first full day with us, so I haven't really put it outside under the sun apart from when I soaked it this morning. I live in an apartment facing the morning sun, and am planning to place the enclosure out on the balcony for a while tomorrow after I soak it. Would that be alright?
As long as the tort is getting a good amount of time outside in the sun then I don't think a UVB would be necessary.

The enclosure you linked is still pretty small but would be an upgrade to what Toothless is in currently. The reason why a bigger enclosure will be necessary is walking aides in digestion, so the more space Toothless has to move around in, the healthier the tort.

@jsheffield and @Toddrickfl1 are also both pretty knowledgeable about RFs
 

toothlesstort

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As long as the tort is getting a good amount of time outside in the sun then I don't think a UVB would be necessary.

The enclosure you linked is still pretty small but would be an upgrade to what Toothless is in currently. The reason why a bigger enclosure will be necessary is walking aides in digestion, so the more space Toothless has to move around in, the healthier the tort.

@jsheffield and @Toddrickfl1 are also both pretty knowledgeable about RFs
Alright, I'll do that and see how things develop over the next few days. Just to clarify, I won't be needing a heat emitter anymore? And the LED is enough just to have some light throughout the day?

Will also start saving up and looking for a bigger enclosure for the tort since I'm currently low on funds ? Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions! Really, really appreciate it.
 

Cherryshell

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Happy to help but also please keep in mind that Redfoots require high humidity, 90+ in some cases and it's much easier to maintain that level of humidity in a closed enclosure. I'm not sure what kind of humidity levels you have there but it may be worth looking at getting a horizontal grow tent. You should be able to find them on Amazon for decent prices
 

ZEROPILOT

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@ZEROPILOT is our resident RF guru

I will say though that you'll need to expand your torts enclosure relatively soon. RFs do need high humidity and a temp consistently in the low-to-mid 80s F (27-29C). Does the tort have an outdoor enclosure or do you put this whole enclosure outside when the sun is out?
Agreed.
A few hours of actual outside sunlight is more than enough UVB for a Redfoot.
So, you can stop worrying about that.
And you already have the warmth and the humidity.
Just feed a widely varied diet of fruits, flowers, greens, protein and mushrooms.
It sounds like you'll be fine
 

toothlesstort

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Happy to help but also please keep in mind that Redfoots require high humidity, 90+ in some cases and it's much easier to maintain that level of humidity in a closed enclosure. I'm not sure what kind of humidity levels you have there but it may be worth looking at getting a horizontal grow tent. You should be able to find them on Amazon for decent prices
We're currently in monsoon/rainy season in general so it is pretty humid but yes, will definitely be monitoring the humidity! And thank you for the recommendation, I'll check those out.
 

toothlesstort

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Agreed.
A few hours of actual outside sunlight is more than enough UVB for a Redfoot.
So, you can stop worrying about that.
And you already have the warmth and the humidity.
Just feed a widely varied diet of fruits, flowers, greens, protein and mushrooms.
It sounds like you'll be fine
This is noted! Toothless got a lot of sunlight while soaking and feeding today so I'm not too worried anymore. Thank you so much for the help.
 
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