Confused over Day Blue Light

[RainsOn]

Okay. I had my lighting all figured out. Two bulbs, one for sun light and one for heat. The heat bulb went out. Sent husband to pick up another. He came home with a Zilla Day Blue Light and said it was all the pet shop had. They were out of my Exo-Terra Daytime Heat Lamp.
This Blue Light does not create as much heat and it turns Digger's indoor box blue with light. Is this harmful ? Do I need to locate the Exo-Terra on line?
(Due to a cool and rainy summer, Digger has been inside quite a bit this year.)
Lighting is so confusing. I read once, somewhere that there is a bulb that can harm their eyes.
I am a concerned Russian tortoise mother.

 

[Yvonne G]

My gosh!!! It's SO GOOD to see you posting! How have you been?

I don't recommend any colored lights. For heat I like to use a ceramic heat emitter, that's heat without light, and for UVB I use the tube type flourescent bulb.

Tom recommends other types. You can find his posts under our lighting section.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Okay. I had my lighting all figured out. Two bulbs, one for sun light and one for heat. The heat bulb went out. Sent husband to pick up another. He came home with a Zilla Day Blue Light and said it was all the pet shop had. They were out of my Exo-Terra Daytime Heat Lamp.
This Blue Light does not create as much heat and it turns Digger's indoor box blue with light. Is this harmful ? Do I need to locate the Exo-Terra on line?
(Due to a cool and rainy summer, Digger has been inside quite a bit this year.)
Lighting is so confusing. I read once, somewhere that there is a bulb that can harm their eyes.
I am a concerned Russian tortoise mother.

The coil bulbs have been documented to cause eye issues and other compact uv bulbs.

Tom and the forum recommend reptile flood bulbs for basking, screw in led or strip lighting for ambient, and t5 uvb, the recommended brands for those are Arcadia prot5 12% or zoo med t5 10.0, Arcadia kit comes with the fitting

You can find some visuals on some bulb options in here and how to place them, height, timing etc, I based it off both toms and the forums advice, there’s all the up to date care info in there too

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope it helps!

 

[RainsOn]

My gosh!!! It's SO GOOD to see you posting! How have you been?

I don't recommend any colored lights. For heat I like to use a ceramic heat emitter, that's heat without light, and for UVB I use the tube type flourescent bulb.

Tom recommends other types. You can find his posts under our lighting section.

Tortoise Forum is my "go to". Always comforting to hear from you and know you are still available. I stay so busy but do need to check in more just to stay updated and remind myself of care options.

 

[RainsOn]

Tortoise Forum is my "go to". Always comforting to hear from you and know you are still available. I stay so busy but do need to check in more just to stay updated and remind myself of care options.

Tortoise Forum is my "go to". Always comforting to hear from you and know you are still available. I stay so busy but do need to check in more just to stay updated and remind myself of care options. I THOUGHT I retired 16 years ago.

What is your weather like this year? Poor Digger has been in a lot lately due to highs below 80 and last night was down to 56 - in northeast Oklahoma! We only got out of the 90's twice all summer. Saw a raccoon prowling Digger's 4x9' habitat at 4 am (we have a privacy fence) so started bringing him in at night.

We have one pet store in town (and WalMart). Of course, of the dozen, or so, vets, not one knows anything about tortoises. One advertises amphibians but asked ME what kind he was and what sex. Didn't go back there. Took Digger to Tulsa to a couple vets that want to take him in the back room WITHOUT ME to trim his beak. I promise you, he was traumatized when they gave him back to me. No one believes we can communicate. How do you trim your beaks?
Have to seen Otis on You Tube? If not you have to check him out under "Garden State Tortoise".
Don't mean to take so much time but I have no one else to talk to about Digger and his mother dotes on him. LOL

And thank you for always answering - really appreciate you.

 

[RainsOn]

The coil bulbs have been documented to cause eye issues and other compact uv bulbs.

Tom and the forum recommend reptile flood bulbs for basking, screw in led or strip lighting for ambient, and t5 uvb, the recommended brands for those are Arcadia prot5 12% or zoo med t5 10.0, Arcadia kit comes with the fitting

You can find some visuals on some bulb options in here and how to place them, height, timing etc, I based it off both toms and the forums advice, there’s all the up to date care info in there too

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope it helps!

Thanks so much for your reply. Helpful and I will do some more checking.

 

[Tom]

Okay. I had my lighting all figured out. Two bulbs, one for sun light and one for heat. The heat bulb went out. Sent husband to pick up another. He came home with a Zilla Day Blue Light and said it was all the pet shop had. They were out of my Exo-Terra Daytime Heat Lamp.
This Blue Light does not create as much heat and it turns Digger's indoor box blue with light. Is this harmful ? Do I need to locate the Exo-Terra on line?
(Due to a cool and rainy summer, Digger has been inside quite a bit this year.)
Lighting is so confusing. I read once, somewhere that there is a bulb that can harm their eyes.
I am a concerned Russian tortoise mother.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

I typed this up since the last time you were here. It compiles all the latest care info in one spot. It will help catch you up to speed on anything you might have missed:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Welcome back! Questions are welcome.

 

[RainsOn]

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

I typed this up since the last time you were here. It compiles all the latest care info in one spot. It will help catch you up to speed on anything you might have missed:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Welcome back! Questions are welcome.

So much; I read it all and took notes. Thanks so much.
I'm off to harvest the backyard- all natural gardening.