Bulb assistance needed for new tortoise setup

[Amber C.]

Hi! My husband and I adopted an approx. 5 yr female Russian Tortoise, Pepita, two months ago. We have been trying to put together her habitat (had her in temporary housing) and are just now getting it assembled. We have her in a Zoo med tortoise house with 100% cypress for substrate. We've been given one Repti Glo 10.0 UVB bulb and one unlabeled blue reptile bulb (we're thinking it's a daytime bulb?). In addition to getting a nighttime bulb, will she need another bulb for heat? How do we figure out the proper distance of the bulbs away from her home? Honestly, figuring out the bulbs has been the most stressful and complicated - reptiles are new to us. When I go to read about them and all the suggestions for different kinds, I end up feeling overwhelmed. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

We live in Seattle, if that helps for climate info ;-)

Thank you!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forum!!! http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ here is the russian care sheet.

 

[Amber C.]

Thanks! I do have that one - it's a good sheet. Just trying to sort through the particulars.

 

[G-stars]

I believe that bulb is coiled if so please don't use as it can cause blindness. It's really not that difficult. Get one of these for day time. This gives of heat, light and UVB requirements. Or outdoors when weather permits.
http://www.lllreptile.com/products/72-zoo-med-100-watt-powersun-uvb-heat-bulbs

For night time heat you can use this as it doesn't emit light.

http://www.lllreptile.com/products/2648-exo-terra-100-watt-ceramic-bulb

And something like this to help maintain correct temps.

http://m.petco.com/product/108340/Z...EfTChQ.1&utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/





— Gus

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Amber welcome to the TFO from AZ. Do we get to see Picts of the enclosure . Remember 1pict is worth 1000 words . Russian torts rule . Have a great tort day !


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[Tom]

The ZooMed tortoise enclosure is much too small. They need something around 4x8', or larger, indoors.

Russians could not be simpler. Hang a fixture over a flat rock, stick a Powersun in there (G Star's first link), adjust the height to get the basking temp under it around 100, set it on a timer for 12-14 hours, and that is it. That's all they need. You could add a long tube style florescent light to make it brighter over all if you wish.

They don't need night heat unless your house drops below 55 degrees every night. If that 10.0 bulb is the coil type, I recommend not using it. If it is the tube type, it will work great and keep the enclosure nice and bright during the day. It can be on the same timer as the basking bulb.

 

[leigti]

You can connect to the zoo med tortoise houses to get a bigger enclosure, that's what I did last year.I took out the dividers and took off the lids over the dividers and put plexiglass on top to let in more light. Later this weekthen I hung 100 Watt power son UVB bulb above it, 12 inches from my tortoises Shell, using a lamp stand from zoo med.this gives you the basic idea. The small light on the right side just had a 40 W lightbulb in it for light and a little heat.you can also get a bookshelf laying on its back and take out the shelves and make a nice enclosure.I agree that the lighting is probably the most confusing part of the whole thing.

 

[leigti]

If you don't want to do the MVB heat bulb all in one option you can do the fluorescent tube lighting and then add heat which could be just a regular lightbulb in a dome fixture. You can get cheaper fixtures at the hardware store compared to the pet store.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

You can connect to the zoo med tortoise houses to get a bigger enclosure, that's what I did last year.I took out the dividers and took off the lids over the dividers and put plexiglass on top to let in more light. Later this weekthen I hung 100 Watt power son UVB bulb above it, 12 inches from my tortoises Shell, using a lamp stand from zoo med.View attachment 99435this gives you the basic idea. The small light on the right side just had a 40 W lightbulb in it for light and a little heat.you can also get a bookshelf laying on its back and take out the shelves and make a nice enclosure.I agree that the lighting is probably the most confusing part of the whole thing.

That actually looks like it works really nice! That's plexiglass on the end, right? Does it help humidity?

 

[leigti]

Yes it is Plexiglas. You need to waterproof the enclosure and you can also cover more parts of it with Plexiglas to help keep in humidity and heat. but don't put in a plexiglass under the UVB lamp.

 

[Amber C.]

Thank you, everyone, for your helpful comments! I think we have her place up and running now - with a powersun 100 wt and a 60 wt CHE (ditched the coiled light at people's suggestions). Unfortunately, as for the size of the tortoise house, we can't yet accommodate a 4 x 8' structure, but we'll work our way up to that and make the best use of what we have.

When I mentioned that setting her place up has been complicated, I'm speaking as a first-time reptile owner trying to make sense of all the information out there about the types of bulbs/light/heat tortoises require, from what distance and intensity, for how long each day, regulating a somewhat diverse climate within a space, and doing this all with the right materials, fireproof, pet-safe, etc. It's actually not that simple if you have no background in this. But we're figuring it out, and the more I learn, the more it's making sense to me. Thanks for your welcome to the community ;-)

Here is her place.

 

[leigti]

May I make a couple suggestions? I started out with one zoo madhouse. first, remove the divider and just put deeper substrate on that side in a corner, I put a hide over on that side in a corner.. but removing the wall will give her more room to walk and the heat and UV will also spread that way. It is hard to make a hot and and cool and in a small enclosure but just arrange the UVB bold closer to one corner and that should do it.you won't need to add plexiglass on top it should stay plenty warm. Put some more substrate, add some water and mix it around real well. this should work until you can add to it somehow. It's a good start, it's where I started but I warn you you never want to stop making it bigger I have just finished my second update to enlarge mine. But now I've completely run out of room so the only place to go now is up but that will be next winter.

 

[leigti]

Thank you, everyone, for your helpful comments! I think we have her place up and running now - with a powersun 100 wt and a 60 wt CHE (ditched the coiled light at people's suggestions). Unfortunately, as for the size of the tortoise house, we can't yet accommodate a 4 x 8' structure, but we'll work our way up to that and make the best use of what we have.

When I mentioned that setting her place up has been complicated, I'm speaking as a first-time reptile owner trying to make sense of all the information out there about the types of bulbs/light/heat tortoises require, from what distance and intensity, for how long each day, regulating a somewhat diverse climate within a space, and doing this all with the right materials, fireproof, pet-safe, etc. It's actually not that simple if you have no background in this. But we're figuring it out, and the more I learn, the more it's making sense to me. Thanks for your welcome to the community ;-)

Here is her place.

View attachment 99877

 

[Amber C.]

Thank you - I'll consider that! As for adding water to the substrate, I have cypress mulch. Is that a substrate you would add water to? My vet said to keep it pretty dry in general...

 

[leigti]

Thank you - I'll consider that! As for adding water to the substrate, I have cypress mulch. Is that a substrate you would add water to? My vet said to keep it pretty dry in general...

Yes you can add water to that. If you get a temperature gun it is really easy to measure the temperature all over the enclosure, including the top of your tortoiseshell.that's don't always have all the best information unfortunately.you don't want it soggy, but a little moisture is good.with Russians sometimes you can wet it down, and let the top of dry out a little but it will still be a little damp underneath where they dig. That works good.just don't let it get Dusty.and I totally agree that the lighting is difficult to get a handle on.

 

[Amber C.]

Yes you can add water to that. If you get a temperature gun it is really easy to measure the temperature all over the enclosure, including the top of your tortoiseshell.that's don't always have all the best information unfortunately.you don't want it soggy, but a little moisture is good.with Russians sometimes you can wet it down, and let the top of dry out a little but it will still be a little damp underneath where they dig. That works good.just don't let it get Dusty.and I totally agree that the lighting is difficult to get a handle on.

So helpful. I kept feeling her mulch was too dry for her, so I'll wet it down a bit. And I'll look into a temp gun. Thanks again!