Red heat lamp

[jeffstort]

I have my russian tortoise Walter who needs to be kept a bit warmer in winter.( my family keeps our house at 65 in the day and around 60 at night) so any way I have a 40 watt zoomed red heat lamp I will run in the winter. My question is should I run it 24/7 or just night? And is it good or should I just get a totally different way to heat him in the winter? And also what do you guys think about the light by personal use?

 

[JoesMum]

Tortoises have excellent colour vision and are particularly attracted to the colour red as that means food that is yummy and sweet. As a result coloured heat lamps can confuse them and they start eating substrate and tank decor that isn't supposed to be eaten as the stines, etc look red. (We aren't talking Einstein here! )

Coloured heat lamps are not recommended for use at all with tortoises.

Also, your tort requires complete darkness at night. It is not nocturnal and does not need to see at night.

For night time heat you should use a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) which provides heat without light.

In the day time, a basking spot bulb and UVB source are needed.

The basking spot provides a place where your tort can bask which it must do to digest its food.

The UVB source provides a source of UVB which in turn helps your tort make vitamin D3 and this helps your tort digest calcium essential for healthy bones and shell. It can be the sun if your tort gets outside for a few hours most days of the week; otherwise you should use a UVB tube fitting or an MVB bulb. An MVB bulb combines a basking spot with a UVB which is handy.

You can also use the CHE for extra heat in the daytime if you need it.

 

[Tom]

Russians are easy. Use a regular incandescent flood bulb set on a timer for day time, and you won't need any night heat for the temps you listed. Adjust the height of the fixture to get your basking temp up to around 100. Make him a large, secure outdoor pen and let him graze and bask outside as much as you can. If he gets regular sun, you don't need any indoor artificial heat. If not then a mercury vapor bulb will give him his much needed UV along with basking heat.

 

[jeffstort]

Alright thank you guys he does get outside for a good hour every other day but I will remove the red light and replace it with a MVB bulb