Our Time Changed . . . Should 'His'?

[SDDTMama]

Okay, possibly a stupid question here, but Owen's MVB is on a timer for 14 hours on, 10 hours off (with an infrared bulb on during the 'night' hours to keep the temps in his enclosure above 70* F to ward off his desire to brumate).
PST just "fell back" an hour, so should I s-l-o-w-l-y adjust Owen's MVB timer so it, once again, is on at 6:30am & off at 8:30pm (PST), or just leave it as is (now that the time changed it's on at 5:30am & off at 7:30pm). I know that the time change doesn't affect Owen, except perhaps that he's used to us feeding him shortly after his light turns on, and now that it turns on at 5:30am we certainly won't be waking up an hour earlier to prepare his 'breakfast'.
So what do you do? Do you adjust your reptile's light cycles to better fit your lifestyle when the time changes?

 

[wellington]

I do turn my leopards back. Also, i believe the winter months you should change the amount of time the lights are on. 14 hours seems like a lot. I have mine on for 12 hours summer. I will be changing it to ten for winter. See what others say though.

 

[SDDTMama]

Thanks, Barb!

I realize that 14 hours 'on' is the looooong side of the spectrum, but as a brand new mama to a 2-month-old Mojave Desert Tortoise, I'm *paranoid* about having to off-set his natural desire to brumate. So far there has definitely been no slowing down of his eating, basking, and wake-time habits, & San Diego is still warm enough (80* today, 2 blocks from the beach!) that he gets plenty of warm, outside, wandering & grazing time . . . BUT, I'm paranoid, and I know I would **freak out** if he showed even the slightest slow down in any of his habits due to pending winter weather . . .

Thanks again for the reply! I think I will adjust his timer 15 mins a week until we're back to 6:30am 'on' again . . . now that I know that's not cruel & unusual.

 

[wellington]

I get it. I wouldn't want to brumate one either. I would be paranoid all winter long. No bragging though about being two blocks from the beach and being in San Diego Vacationed there two years ago, loved it.
I mainly turn mine back, because otherwise he is up an hour before me and will be wanting to eat. I'm not getting up an hour early

 

[SDDTMama]

No bragging though about being two blocks from the beach and being in San Diego

Haha! It was more like, 'Okay, God, it's November, I get that this is So. Cal. & all, but SOME form of autumn would be appreciated!'

Believe it or not, I was born & raised in So. California, but I truly think that I was meant to live in the Pacific Northwest. A suburb of Seattle or Portland, maybe. I *LOVE* gray, 'dreary', drizzly days. Everyone always says, 'the grass is always greener' or 'you'd get sick of it & depressed soon enough', but I really don't believe that that would happen. I spent a week in Seattle three years ago. I absolutely LOVED it! (Not the big city; it reminded me too much of downtown San Diego, but the suburbs and small towns surrounding it . . .)
>Sigh< Maybe some day . . . :shy:

 

[Tortus]

To stay on topic, does anyone know exactly how crucial the light cycle is for tortoises? My timer never worked right (I have a new one on the way) and I've been turning the light on at 7:30 am, and off at 6:30 pm when I go to work. 11 hours on, and 13 hours off.

 

[wellington]

To stay on topic, does anyone know exactly how crucial the light cycle is for tortoises? My timer never worked right (I have a new one on the way) and I've been turning the light on at 7:30 am, and off at 6:30 pm when I go to work. 11 hours on, and 13 hours off.

I don't think it's crucial, as I don't think it will hurt one way or the other. Probably more important for torts that brumate. I used to do they same hours as you. Then I read to leave it on for 12 hours, so I changed it. However, my Leo is tucked in for the night way before the light goes off anyway, as most seems to be. I'm changing mine to 10 hours for winter, as the is the amount of day light we have here now. Gets dark here about 4:15, and light about 6-6:30am

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I set my timers back, and poor Carl woke up at his usual time this morning to find that he still had an hour of darkness. I assume they are like we are, a little confused for a couple days but not worse for the wear

 

[Laurie]

I leave the lights on for my Russians and hermanns 14 hours a day. The point is to make them think its still a bright sunny summer. You don't want them the realize its winter

 

[EricIvins]

I leave the lights on for my Russians and hermanns 14 hours a day. The point is to make them think its still a bright sunny summer. You don't want them the realize its winter

It doesn't work like that......Ambient temperature and barometric pressure tell them what season they are in........