3 feet light fixture for a Kages custom enclosure

cdumitru78

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I ended up with one of these enclosures for my Hermann babies, so far I love the fit and finish! I siliconed the bottom of it, patiently waiting for it to dry and the smell to go away. I am trying to locate a slim UVB light strip that I can mount to the top of the enclosure, and given that the enclosure is 48 inches, I think a 3 feet T5 light fixture would be ideal. Any thoughts/recommendations?

 

cdumitru78

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On a separate note, the Kage came with 3 ceramic light fixtures spread evenly across the top, can any of the experts please offer me any bulb suggestions? IF I could get by without having to add ANY UVB strip light type of fixture, that would make it easier as I dont have to tinker with adding more lights. Any help from any of the experts would be greatly appreciated, especially from @Tom and @Yvonne G, they seem to be the experts!
 

Tom

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You need more than ceramic sockets.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a hermanni. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb.
 

cdumitru78

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Thank you Tom, I was hoping to avoid it but I was prepared for it, I ordered the Sunblaster T5HO 36 inch single light fixture and a Zoomed 10UVB Reptisun fluorescennt light. Not too many 3 feet light fixtures to pick sadly, local stores don't seem to offer any. I thought 3 feet light strip would be preferable to the 2 feet. For the other 3 ceramic sockets, what do you recommend? I was thinking of trying some Zoomed lights, a mixture repti basking bulb or the Repti basking bulb. I was planning to play around with those bulbs to get the right mix, but any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you again for your reply.
 

Klaus’s reptiles

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Hello, I have bought the same enclosure and is just shipped, I’m tortoise noob, and I have one red foot tort baby. I was also thinking about the UV lighting, I bought the tube fixture at same time when I ordered the enclosure.(I forgot what was the name of the tube fixture) I’m so happy to see other people have the same enclosure with me, so we can share the experience what are good for our tortoise.[emoji2][emoji2]
 

Tom

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Thank you Tom, I was hoping to avoid it but I was prepared for it, I ordered the Sunblaster T5HO 36 inch single light fixture and a Zoomed 10UVB Reptisun fluorescennt light. Not too many 3 feet light fixtures to pick sadly, local stores don't seem to offer any. I thought 3 feet light strip would be preferable to the 2 feet. For the other 3 ceramic sockets, what do you recommend? I was thinking of trying some Zoomed lights, a mixture repti basking bulb or the Repti basking bulb. I was planning to play around with those bulbs to get the right mix, but any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you again for your reply.
For any Testudo, you shouldn't need night heat if your enclosure stays above 60 at night, so you only need one ceramic socket for a basking bulb.
 

cdumitru78

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THANK you @Tom, this makes sense. Since I have two other ceramic sockets drilled and pre installed, would it be ok to put some regular type of lights in there, more for our viewing pleasure so that part of the enclosure is lit? So far I will have a 36 inch T5HO reptisun 10UVB, one basking area and I have two sockets that I will try to fill with regular low heat bulbs.
 

Tom

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THANK you @Tom, this makes sense. Since I have two other ceramic sockets drilled and pre installed, would it be ok to put some regular type of lights in there, more for our viewing pleasure so that part of the enclosure is lit? So far I will have a 36 inch T5HO reptisun 10UVB, one basking area and I have two sockets that I will try to fill with regular low heat bulbs.
I think that will over heat your enclosure, unless you mean LED when you said "low heat". A couple of screw in type LEDs would work great for more light.
 

cdumitru78

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I think that will over heat your enclosure, unless you mean LED when you said "low heat". A couple of screw in type LEDs would work great for more light.

That is exactly what I was trying to say, I was thinking screw in LEDs. Thank you again, this makes sense and you've been of great help. I will report back once I have everything set up, getting my T5HO light tomorrow.
 
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