Night or day?

[Mark Cassell]

Hi I have a 7 month old horsfield tortoise and have recently moved her from a vivarium to a table , today when I got back from work it was as if she hadn't moved all day! I have two levels in the table and she's started sleeping upstairs , problem is there is no light ! I live in the UK and its not very bright in my house any more , so it's still dark upstairs , she has been coming down to the heat and uv light but today she didn't and she was freezing cold when I got back to her, and she's still awake now (usually asleep by 15:30) I'm thinking maybe putting a light upstairs or just leaving the living room light on so it illuminates her table. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[Mark Cassell]

 

[wellington]

I would add another light. If it's too dark and cold she will try going into hibernation and unless prepared and done right you don't want that to happen.

 

[Mark Cassell]

I would add another light. If it's too dark and cold she will try going into hibernation and unless prepared and done right you don't want that to happen.

Yes I'm worried about her going into hibernation. Luckily its not too cold yet 21° .
I've just been thinking about adding another uv light up top. Thanks

 

[Mark Cassell]

I would add another light. If it's too dark and cold she will try going into hibernation and unless prepared and done right you don't want that to happen.

What type of uv bulb do you recommend ? I have a strip uv light and a spiral bulb.

 

[wellington]

Never use the spiral bulb, they can cause eye damage. I would use a regular incandescent 60 watt bulb. It will give off some heat and light. As long as you have a UVB bulb for him already, not a coil/spiral one available for him he doesn't really need another one.

 

[Mark Cassell]

Never use the spiral bulb, they can cause eye damage. I would use a regular incandescent 60 watt bulb. It will give off some heat and light. As long as you have a UVB bulb for him already, not a coil/spiral one available for him he doesn't really need another one.

So just a normal household light bulb ?
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions

 

[Mark Cassell]

Never use the spiral bulb, they can cause eye damage. I would use a regular incandescent 60 watt bulb. It will give off some heat and light. As long as you have a UVB bulb for him already, not a coil/spiral one available for him he doesn't really need another one.

Do the spiral bulbs cause eye damage to the tortoise ?

 

[wellington]

Yes. Post a pic of the bulb. I call them coiled. We might or might not be talking about the same thing.

 

[Tom]

There are many people on this site, and in general, that advocate giving our tortoises "choices". I constantly argue with them just for this reason. Many times our tortoise will make the wrong choice for reasons we don't understand. These wrong choices can sometime harm or kill them. I don't mind offering choices as long as every choice they can make is the "right" choice and it won't harm them.

Mark, I think you need to heat and light the upper level just the same as the lower level. Get another 65 watt flood and a florescent strip, put them on a timer, and light that sucker up!

 

[Tom]

Do the spiral bulbs cause eye damage to the tortoise ?

Some of them do, yes. Not all of them do. Problem is, unless you have a multimillion dollar lab with a trained staff on hand for bulb testing, the only way to know if a given bulb is an eye burner, or not, is to put it over your tortoise and see if it burns his eyes.

 

[Mark Cassell]

Yes. Post a pic of the bulb. I call them coiled. We might or might not be talking about the same thing.

Yeah coiled it is I know what you mean, a few people have said that.

 

[Mark Cassell]

 

[Mark Cassell]

View attachment 190341

Added the spiral for a bit extra uv light .

 

[wellington]

If your not seeing a problem with it, you could continue using it. You have it high enough it looks and more to the side then pointing straight down, so you might be good. I just wouldn't add another one that's coiled.

 

[Tom]

If your not seeing a problem with it, you could continue using it. You have it high enough it looks and more to the side then pointing straight down, so you might be good. I just wouldn't add another one that's coiled.

I agree, and I would add that those type of bulbs at that distance are probably not providing any UV for the tortoise either. I think the strip bulb is probably meeting those UV needs in Mark's case.

 

[Big Charlie]

I don't have any advice to offer but I wanted to comment on how much I love the way you have decorated your enclosure. Very cool!

 

[Mark Cassell]

I don't have any advice to offer but I wanted to comment on how much I love the way you have decorated your enclosure. Very cool!

Haha . Thanks man I went for the d day theme

 

[Mark Cassell]

 

[Mark Cassell]

Got the new flood bulb , much better ! Thanks everyone for your advice . It's 32° under the light.