Uvb lamp

[DobbyRed]

Hello every tort owner. I have a simple question regarding the uvb lamp.
Im getting a new uvb tube lamp for my torts and my questions is this:

Can I use any base or housing for the uvb tube???

 

[DobbyRed]

I buy from a petsmart store here and the housing are very expensive. I can use one from a hardware store which are more cheaper and buy the 10.0 uvb tube from a petstore???

 

[DobbyRed]

Or use a mercury bulb with a cone shape for basking and uvb??

 

[DobbyRed]

I have two reds and this is their habitat.

 

[Tom]

It depends on the bulb you get. The best ones for UV are the "T5 HO" bulbs. These require the right fixture. Best to just order online and get a discounted bulb and fixture at the same place. Something like this would work, but browse the site for other options too. http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22t5hofihouw2.html

On an unrelated note: Those water bowls are literally death traps for tortoises. Great for lizards and snakes, but no good for tortoises. We had a member here come home and find her tortoise upside down and drowned in one of those. I'd replace it with a $2 terra cotta plant saucer sunk into the substrate.

Also, are you checking the temperature at the top of that divider? That is a very dangerous practice. I would get another fixture and give each tortoise its own bulb. It won't be any problem to do what you are doing there with a florescent bulb though.

Aslo remember that for a regular 10.0 T8 florescent tube to offer any UV benefit, it must be mounted close to the substrate no more than 10-12". Any farther and very little UV will reach your tortoises.

Do you have a light meter? If your tortoises rely on indoor UV a light meter is just as important as your thermometer. These work well:
http://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html

 

[DobbyRed]

A lots of thanks for the info. That photo is a little old. I have made a lots of modifications on the habitat. I have two lamps one for each one. That analog thermo is gone. Today I recived by mail two new digital. The grey water dish is only for Dobby the big tort and soon she wont fit in it.
Where the habitat is located now it does receive sunlight every day but not much how it used too thats why Im getting a new uvb lamp now.

 

[DobbyRed]

And beside the tube light is ok if I use the mercury vapor bulb for basking and uvb??

 

[DobbyRed]

Cause I already have the lamps for a ceramic use and dont want to buy everything all over again to use the tube like lamps.

 

[mikeh]

You can use MVBs instead of tubes, but given you are in PR why not make a safe outdoor enclosure where they can get diffused sunlight with plenty of shade, even if its just for few hours a week. You have such an ideal climate. Then you don't have to worry about Indoor UVB at all.

 

[DobbyRed]

I just move with my wife to a new house and have plenty of space for a outdoor enclouser. And I will build them a big nice place but for now they have to stay indoor, also this month is very rainy so I wont be able to do it now. Just want to provide more UV than what there are getting now just to make sure the well being of their health.
Right now is raining here in PR and it has being raining for like 3 hours straight and everything is flooded.




Hedwig is too little to have her in and outdoor area with this rain.

 

[mikeh]

Wow, well obviously not in flash flood scenario. Sure, go ahead with MVBs for the time being. FYI: looking at the photo of the enclosure, UVB rays do not pass thru glass/plexiglass.

 

[DobbyRed]

From where the photo was taken is where the sunlight enters and the enclousure is like 2 ft from the ground so the sunlight rays dont pass throught anything. Is clean uv.