Reptisun 5.0 UVB
Mini compact fluorescent 12w.
The housing is 12" x 6" with aluminum plate for reflection. It's placed over the middle of the enclosure about a foot and a half high
Redfoot eye problem
- Thread starter DiegoM
- Start date
Reptisun 5.0 UVB
Mini compact fluorescent 12w.
The housing is 12" x 6" with aluminum plate for reflection. It's placed over the middle of the enclosure about a foot and a half high
Actually, UV-C, the wavelengths blamed for the photokeratitis issues, is higher frequency (shorter wavelength) UV.
yes that is one of the bad bulbs. the enclosure is way to dry. it needs to be a closed chamber enclosure for this species, with moist substrate.
Yup that's the bulb. You mentioned you bought these in Florida. If you still live there I would just make them an outdoor enclosure. That takes care of UV requirements and humidity.
wait if you live in florida you can just let these guys live outside most of the year! tortoises almost always do better outside!
I got a back patio but it's screened in and covered top so no direct sunlight. Would that be ok to leave them there or should i build something that's covered and have the enclosure out in the sun?
building an enclosure with direct sunlight would be the best.
Ok I think I will do that then. This way I won't need to worry about any lighting/heating at all. Only problem I see if when temp drops I would need to move them inside, along with crazy rain during the summer
its best always to have a inside backup enclosure when it gets to cold.
Thanks man super helpful. Going to buy a new uvb for them while i do the new set up outside
make sure they have shade when building there outside enclosure. also we love pictures here so post lots of them
!
!make sure they have shade when building there outside enclosure. also we love pictures here so post lots of them
Will do!
We have a section dedicated to outdoor enclosures. Lots of pictures and many different ideas. Check it out.
Rain during the summer should be fine. They will probably love it in fact. As long as temps are still on the warmer side.
For a redfoot, especially a baby one, I would not let your cool side drop to 70. High humidity and low temps are a recipe for respiratory infections. I would boost up the cooler side to 80.
Great looking enclosure, by the way, looks like it's big enough to last them for a bit
So I made a trip back to the reptile store today to talk about the issue with uvb lights...turns out they use the same compact uvb bulbs on ALL of their tanks and have yet to have an eye issues with their reptiles, especially the tortoise. So you can see im a bit stumped lol. They claim the new reptisun brand would not cause eye irritation and even exchanged the bulb for me for free to a 10.0. I used to have the 5.0.
They assure me his eye problem is coming from dehydration and low humidity levels. Which to me seems to make more sense because of his previous tank conditions.
To add to everything else they told me to check how soft his underbelly was and of course, it was very soft! Clear sign of low calcium.
Got a tip to add some pedialyte to the water when I soak him to help with dehydration also got a calcium booster to put in there as well. He did finally eat a bit after soaking for 20 or so minutes but did not move for a couple hours after that =|
Having some beginner problems but hoping I can get him strong and healthy asap!
Look around the forum, do a few searches and you can see that we get this issue over and over again. While I agree that perhaps it could not be the light. I wouldn't risk it.
How often were you soaking previous to this? Yes you do need calcium however you also need a good UVB source for the animal to be able to absorb the calcium.
Now if this issue was happening to me I would switch out the light for an MVB, do daily soaks (with pedialyte if you'd like) , raise the humidity, and not let my temps drop below 80F.
