UV v Sun & the zoomed plenpen

[Sean.k]

Hi,
I recently bought two zoomed tortoise boxes and put them together and did some editing to help with humidity and stop the room from getting crazy hot. the issue is the UV light i need to take off the plexi glass for the 12 hours of UV light. so if I were to get the play pen that zoomed offer (or build me own) and put it outside is the tortoise ok to be left in there for hours at a time? (will he know to get out of the sun if needs be?) and if he is outside for few hours will he be ok without the UV light inside. {6 months old & central valley California}

 

[Big Charlie]

He will be okay without a UV light if he is outside a few times a week for a few hours, but he still needs light in his enclosure. Most people deal with this by putting a tent-like structure over the top of the pen with the lights inside. You can buy a small greenhouse for this or build your own with a shower curtain.

Tortoises aren't smart enough to get out of the sun necessarily and a small tortoise can easily overheat. If you put him outside, make sure the enclosure is half way in the shade. You need to keep an eye on him because at his size, he can be carried away by a bird. It's best that he spends most of his time inside his temperature and humidity controlled enclosure.

 

[Sean.k]

yea that's good info, I have steered away from the mini greenhouse cover for his enclosure because i like watching him when I am on a call or working, i keep room humidity up and just deal with it so I can enjoy him being in my office. The zoomed play pen has a caged area and box to hide, but if I put him out for an hour or 2 during midday I wanted to make sure heat wise he would be smart enough to go in the box, so predators are not a concern but tortoises intelligence may be.

 

[wellington]

At six months he should be spending more time inside in the closed chamber then outside. Adults do know how to regulate their temps by going between shade and sun but babies not so much and can over heat very quickly.
My leopards are six months old too and I only leave them outside for an hour and I'm checking on them a lot.
You won't need the uvb inside but can use an incandescent light for light and heat for day time.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I use a 40watt incandescent in mines enclosure for a daytime nighttime cycle. He goes outside an hour or so 3-4 times a week for UVB. This seems to work fine.