Feeling Overwhelmed

[x-sully-x]

Good evening.

At the moment we are undergoing home improvements to Sully's enclosure and I am trying to dissect all the information out there about UV lighting. I get so far and then it all gets a little overwhelming and I get lost lol. What I want to know is what is the optimum level of UV range a lamp should be emitting for the tortoise and at what level if you used a meter would you change the bulb.

Also how much exposure should a tortoise have a day?

Is the Powersun lamp any good? Or is Megaray better?

We are going to be letting her spend a lot more time outside in the summer so am I right in saying that she will not need exposure to a UV bulb when it's time for bed if she has been out all day.

Sorry for all these questions, I just feel a little lost with all the information I am reading - I am going to look again tomorrow with fresh eyes - I think my head is fried but if anyone can shed some light on this or point me to a thread I would be very grateful

Night all

 

[Madkins007]

Keep a couple things in mind. Most species of tortoise spend much of their day completely hidden, and most animals get all the UVB they need from relatively short exposures to sunlight (animals that spend more time in sun generally have skin adaptations that reduce the total exposure.)

Focus on making a naturalistic day period- not massively intense light, normal day length (usually 12-14 hours in the summer), and a decent 'pool' of UVB- ideally throughout the habitat but at least in the basking area. Also make sure there is lots of shade and hides available.

After that, there is no 'one best' option that everyone agrees on.

 

[Tom]

Keep this very simple. Put a Powersun on a timer over one end of the enclosure. Set the timer for 12 hours and adjust the height of the fixture to get the temp directly under it to 100 degrees. Then get a CHE and mount it over the middle of the enclosure and hook it up to a thermostat set to 80.

BOOM! Done.

The sun shines all day in Africa. If its too bright or they are too warm or they have just had enough, they move out of it. They should have the same opportunity in all your enclosures both indoors and out, but the "sun" should be shining for 12 hours.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I've used Powersun uvb's for years without a problem. I like that they provide a center of good heat for basking as well as add to heating the enclosure during daylight hours. I routinely change mine out at 14 months. I purchase mine on eBay for a very good price.

 

[x-sully-x]

Keep this very simple. Put a Powersun on a timer over one end of the enclosure. Set the timer for 12 hours and adjust the height of the fixture to get the temp directly under it to 100 degrees. Then get a CHE and mount it over the middle of the enclosure and hook it up to a thermostat set to 80.

BOOM! Done.

The sun shines all day in Africa. If its too bright or they are too warm or they have just had enough, they move out of it. They should have the same opportunity in all your enclosures both indoors and out, but the "sun" should be shining for 12 hours.

Thank you so much for simplifying this for me! I was getting into a right old mess lol! I am going out today to get a powersun - CHE, ceramic heat element? I have one of those so the improvements can continue!! Thank you!

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Thank you everyone! This place is such a god send in helping me to change how sully lives