Reptisun T5 10.0 enclosure coverage for juvenile hermann

[tortoo]

Hello everyone, I've had an eastern Hermanns for about a year now and he's about 16 months old and has been growing wonderfully. However, I'm concerned he's not getting enough UVB light.

His enclosure is 6ft by 3ft and is being lit by a single 2ft Reptisun T5 10.0 24W placed 16" above the substrate. The light covers roughly half of the enclosure. The other half contains the heating lamp and basking lamp.

I live in Alberta Canada where it's winter for 6 months of the year and so the tortoise stays inside most of the year without any sun. I'm wondering if full enclosure UVB coverage is necessary to ensure healthy shell growth, especially since he stays inside.


Here are some pics of his enclosure.






Also, I recently create a humid hide using an Amazon box and spagnum moss. The temperature probe is set to 85F, is that too high? Ambient temperature is around 70-75 during the day and night and that 85F hide temperature is also the same day and night.

Thank you!!

 

[jaizei]

You want the UVB light placed over/paired with the basking zone. You'll probably need some sort of additional light over the rest of the enclosure for ambient lighting, most use LEDs for this.

 

[tortoo]

Awesome thank you! I will be using the existing light for growing plants then. and will purchase a new one to place under the basking area.