Confused about lighting

[Camcat71]

Hello, I have read so many different things about light I am totally confused. I want to ensure I have the best for my tortoise.

Could someone tell me please in simple terms what is recommended:

basking light
heat light
UVB light

Or is there a combined light to cover all 3

Thank you xx

 

[ZEROPILOT]

What type of tortoise do you have?
Are you in the UK? What you have available to you might different than the product we have here in North America.
There ARE combination lights that claim to do all 3. But they do none of those things well. Use a T5 10.0 HO UVB LINEAR STRIP FLORESCENT TUBE for UVB.
As far as heating and basking lights go, it'll come down to the species

 

[wellington]

Tube florescent for uvb as ZEROPILOT mentioned.
Flood bulb for basking and che or Reptile heat panel for added heat and night heat.
Basking light not needed for RF tortoises.

 

[Camcat71]

What type of tortoise do you have?
Are you in the UK? What you have available to you might different than the product we have here in North America.
There ARE combination lights that claim to do all 3. But they do none of those things well. Use a T5 10.0 HO UVB LINEAR STRIP FLORESCENT TUBE for UVB.
As far as heating and basking lights go, it'll come down to the species

I live in the uk and have a 1 year old spur thigh

 

[wellington]

Night heat is not needed then for your species as long as temps don't go below 60F

 

[Tom]

Hello, I have read so many different things about light I am totally confused. I want to ensure I have the best for my tortoise.

Could someone tell me please in simple terms what is recommended:

basking light
heat light
UVB light

Or is there a combined light to cover all 3

Thank you xx

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.