50watt red basking lamp instead of usual 40watt- Help!

[alfiethetortoise]

I went away this weekend and luckily moved my dad into my house to look after Alfie...

The heat lamp (40 watt exo terra infared) was on a timer, but the bulb blew while i was away and so my dad went to the hardwear store to get another (this is whatyou get for not always having spares). He put in a 40watt white bulb which seems to be working fine...

So i went and got a new bulb while away, but after hours of searching could only find a 50 watt bulb the same as i had, and not a 40.

The pet shop i got it from said it would be ok, but when i got the bulb off the shelf i came face to face with a snake! The people seemed very lax it had managed to escape (i am still reeling) and they didn't have any torts, but did have some tort products.

So my question:

Is it ok to just use a 40 watt white bulb instead of a red one, it seems to be working fine...

Do you think the 50 watt red bulb will be ok or will Alfie frazzle? He is in a 2.5 feet vivarium. At the moment i have a heat mat on at night time as the temp is dropping too much and i worry Alfie will go into hibernation.

The local hardwear shop is going to get me some red bulbs in. Is it ok to use these or do i have to have the 'exo terra' variety (which cost £8.70 as opposed to £1.30)?

Many Thanks, hope everyone is well!

 

[Greg T]

I'm not really sure you will tell much of a difference between a 40 watt and a 50 watt, so I would just continue using the 50 watt red bulb and monitor your temperatures just to be sure.

I'd go red over white, especially at night.

 

[Yvonne G]

The only difference is the red light is invisible to the tortoise's eyes, and the white bulb is like the sun is shining the whole time its on.

Yvonne

 

[GBtortoises]

Assuming the red bulb is used for night time heat, how low are the temperatures in the tortoises enclosure that it would require a source of heat at night being a Mediterranean tortoise?
A standard (white) 40 watt bulb should be sufficient as a daytime basking light as long as the ambient air temperature is at least 65 degrees. At 65 degrees a 40 watt basking light should be mounted approximately 12" from the substrate. This will produce temperatures of 100 degrees plus under the center beam of the light at the substrate.
A substrate heater should not be required for any reason with northern Mediterranean species.