Baskin bulb??

[loopacia]

I am attempting to get my tortoise enclosure on point for my sulcata I will be purchasing soon. Currently I have the humidity in the 80's and temp in 80's using a uvb bulb and che bulb. I thought the che bulb would provide a hot enough basking space but it is currently only at 90 degrees under it. Should I get a basking bulb also and if so what brand/kind/wattage/etc is suggested???

 

[JoesMum]

A CHE provides background heat and should be used with a thermostat. It is not for basking.

For basking you need an incandescent spotlight bulb or a Mercury Vapour Bulb (MVB). This must hang vertically and not be at an angle. To adjust the temperature under this you raise or lower it. The closer it is to the substrate then the hotter the basking spot will be. To accurately measure the temperature under it at tortoise level you need a temperature gun type thermometer.

 

[JoesMum]

I meant to add that if lowering the bulb doesn't increase the temperature enough then you will need a higher wattage (i.e. hotter) bulb

 

[Markw84]

We really need to know more about your setup to make a suggestion. If you are maintaining 80%RH, you probably have an enclosed chamber? How big is the enclosure? What type UVB are you using?

When we talk "basking", there are three things to consider. LIGHT, UVA & B, and HEAT.
You will need:
A CHE, on a thermostat.
A UVB fluorescent tube, or MVB (Mercury Vapor Bulb) to provide the UVB and UVA.
If using fluorescent, you will ALSO need a regular incandescent FLOOD bulb to provide basking HEAT. (A MVB will provide that as well as UVA/B.)

SO thoughts on that - if you are interested in more detail...

If you have an enclosed chamber, I think you will find it impossible to use a MVB without overheating. So most have gone with fluorescent tubes for lighting. So I will have ambient fluorescent tubes for part of my lighting coupled with a regular incandescent FLOOD bulb. (Not SPOT!) The flood bulb also provides the heat for basking. I add to that another fluorescent that is a UVB producing bulb. Your CHE should be on a thermostat and is used solely to maintain the minimum ambient temperature in your enclosure.

With fluorescents, I strive to create a better "natural sunlight" look as possible, so I use a bit more high-end fluorescent tubes from the hardware or home improvement stores. The cheaper bulbs normally will have serious color issues that do not produce a more "natural" light at all. ( I am experimenting with LEDs as well, but really need to be careful as the cheaper ones have horrible colors. But you can get ones with extremely good color balanced light, but they are more expensive.) So with fluorescents, I have gone towards the "daylight" 5000K to 5500K bulbs. In that range, a better bulb will normally have a CRI over 90. I believe the CRI (Color Rendering Index) of a bulb is an important consideration since tortoises are so visual in their behaviors and feeding. A 6000K bulb or higher will be more blue-white and the reds start merging with the oranges as that part of the spectrum is poorly covered in those bulbs. But by adding the incandescent flood, that will add back that part of the spectrum as standard incandescents have CRI's over 95. A good UVB tube and fixture, then completes the lighting setup adding the needed UVB, UVA parts of the spectrum.

SO what do I believe the best setup to provide all this? This is what I use in my 3 foot x 8 foot enclosed, insulated chambers.
2 - 100 watt CHE both wired to the same thermostat set to 81f with probe at the coolest part of the enclosure.
1 - double 4 foot T-5 fluorescent fixture with two daylight 5500K, 92 CRI tubes. On a timer - on for 14 hours a day.
2 - 65 watt incandescent FLOOD bulbs on the same timer as the Fluorescent fixture above. Also, from the timer through a thermostat set to 90f.
1 - 4 foot T5 HO 12% UVB light with reflector fixture on a timer on 5 hours a day 10AM to 3PM.

My chambers will overheat if I do not put the incandescent floods on a thermostat. Since I have the ambient lighting with the fluorescents as bright, I do not mind, in fact I like the basking floods going on and off a few times throughout the day. Just like some clouds blocking the sun part of the day in their home environment in the rainy season when they are most active and growing.

I center the 4 foot fluorescents 12" apart in the chamber and mount the two floods between them. The floods are about 2 feet apart. This leaves a light gradient towards both ends of the chamber. I also have the CHE's mounted, centered front to back 18" from each side.

I also use 2 - 4" x 12" and another 2 - 6" round clay pots planted with overhanging plants for cover in addition to a hide in each end. I think this is vital as tortoises would normally spend a majority of their time hiding under a bush or in a burrow, then coming out to bask and eat. So this gives them all those variables.