Lighting/Heating HELP!!!

abyrhianl said:

We have ordered a T5 14% tube light to give him some more UV ...

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I didn't know they made a 14%. Wow. I use Arcadia 12% bulbs and those make very strong UV. More UV than the mid day summer sun at 18". Do you have a UV meter? If not you really should. I would mount that bulb at least 24" from the tortoise and only run it for a few hours mid day. Watch the tortoises eyes and behavior.

Here is the meter to get:
https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html

Tom said:

I didn't know they made a 14%. Wow. I use Arcadia 12% bulbs and those make very strong UV. More UV than the mid day summer sun at 18". Do you have a UV meter? If not you really should. I would mount that bulb at least 24" from the tortoise and only run it for a few hours mid day. Watch the tortoises eyes and behavior.

Here is the meter to get:
https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html

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Yeah, it’s the Arcadia T5 14%. It should be arriving today. Is it possible for them to have too much UV. I was told the stronger the better but we’ve already established I’ve been told some bad information.

abyrhianl said:

Thank you! Your set up looks amazing! And he’s doing okay he’s spent a day in the sun (supervised) we’ve made the changes to his enclosure so hopefully he will be much happier! This is our first tortoise and we only want him to have the best, just felt so bad knowing we had got it wrong when it was based off information by supposed ‘experts’. Onwards and upwards, just want him to be happy and healthy that’s all that matters[emoji4]

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I've only been here a short time, but we see person after person join, all excited about their new tortoise, having just spent tons of money on recommended supplies at the pet store, only to be told it's all wrong.

Some people don't want to accept it and insist they can do it their way. But the ones that listen to the awesome advice of Tom, Yvonne, Mark, and others have some pretty amazing looking tortoises to show for it.

Anyway, I'm glad it sounds like you're willing to put the little guy's well-being above everything which is awesome [emoji846][emoji217]

vladimir said:

I've only been here a short time, but we see person after person join, all excited about their new tortoise, having just spent tons of money on recommended supplies at the pet store, only to be told it's all wrong.

Some people don't want to accept it and insist they can do it their way. But the ones that listen to the awesome advice of Tom, Yvonne, Mark, and others have some pretty amazing looking tortoises to show for it.

Anyway, I'm glad it sounds like you're willing to put the little guy's well-being above everything which is awesome [emoji846][emoji217]

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Of course! I only want the best for him and I want him to live a long happy and healthy life! Just sucks when I could’ve spent the money first the right way instead of now having to go back and correct everything! He already seems a lot happier with his cover on, his humidity and temperatures are all correct and he’s had a brilliant couple of days out in the sun! I thought I was so prepared I’d read books, asked pet shop keepers, and a vets for advise and it was all wrong such a shame it wasn’t right for him from the start.[emoji217]

abyrhianl said:

Yeah, it’s the Arcadia T5 14%. It should be arriving today. Is it possible for them to have too much UV. I was told the stronger the better but we’ve already established I’ve been told some bad information.

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Yes. It is easy to give them too much UV. It can cause a sunburn and burn their eyes, pretty similar to a human that stays under high levels of UV for too long. This was never a problem with the older type bulbs because they didn't produce much UV. The newer HO bulbs though, can produce UV levels higher than the mid day summer sun in the tropics. Mounting height and knowing your levels is critically important.

abyrhianl said:

Yeah, it’s the Arcadia T5 14%. It should be arriving today. Is it possible for them to have too much UV. I was told the stronger the better but we’ve already established I’ve been told some bad information.

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You can definitely have too much UVB. But the issue is normally just proper mounting height. Too strong UVB at your tortoise level will blind your tortoise. Overexposure to UVB can damage cells. So it is important to be sure you have the bulb mounted at the correct height.

Artificial bulbs produce UVB that diminishes rapidly with distance. It is the distance at which we mount the bulb that then controls the amount of UVB your tortoise is getting. That is true of any UVB bulb you get - from a 2.0 to a 14.0. All fluorescents of the same diameter (T5 or T8) normally produce the same amount of "light" for the same length of tube. A T5 48" tube is normally 54 watts, for example. So a 5.0 UVB tube is producing 5% of its "ilght" as UVB. A 10.0 tube would be 10%. So the same length tube - the 5.0 is producing 1/2 the UVB the 10.0 is. The 14.0 tube is producing 14% of its light as UVB. so it is producing 1.4 times more UVB than a 10.0 tube.

So the only concern is mounting height. The stronger UVB tubes are generally good for applications were you can mount the tube higher (in the 18"-24" range) and will then get a wider field of the desired UVB strength. I like a UVB field of about 2.5 UVI - 5.0 UVI in the basking zone for my tortoises. I get that with a height of about 18" with a 12.0 With a 14.0 I would probably need about 20-24". But I don't guess, I check it with a meter to get it right.

A Solarmeter 6.5 is really the only way to know how to get this right. Although expensive ($250), I consider one a vital tool. To me, more so than even a thermometer. We can at least feel heat ourselves and guess when it is too cold or hot - but we still would never consider not having a good thermometer to get it right. With UVB you cannot see or feel it at all. There is not way to guess if it is right. Too little and there will be improper bone growth and other health issues. Too much and eye and cell damage. Yet so many just guess that it is OK.