Heat Lamp at night

[STortois99]

For my two little sulcata tortoises do they need a heat lamp at night? I’ve been using a nightlight heat lamp during the night and they like to sleep by it but I don’t know if I should have it on because the temperature in my house is already 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[wellington]

They need to never be below 80-85 with a basking temp that reaches 95-100
Sounds like you need to do some drastic changes before they die.
Also do not house them together, they should never be in pairs.

 

[wellington]

Please read this
Thread 'For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[wellington]

They need it dark at night with ceramic heat emitter.
Incandescent flood bulb for basking
Tube florescent for uvb

 

[wellington]

Thread 'The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

 

[wellington]

Thread 'Closed "Chambers"' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

 

[STortois99]

They need it dark at night with ceramic heat emitter.
Incandescent flood bulb for basking
Tube florescent for uvb

I will try to get a UVB bulb next time I’m out and all the correct heating requirements but is it really necessary that they need to be seperated? They seem to be doing fine after a year and I don’t know if I can buy more supplies to seperate them both.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Yes, you should separate them. Even if they don't openly fight (like they probably will do later), they constantly subtle stress each other. What if I come to your place, will eat your food, sleep in your bed, totally unwilling to cooperate and communicate? That's the kind of situation they are in.

You might not need the second set of equipment if you place the enclosures side by side or head to head. Maybe only a basking lamp. You can divide their enclosure in two parts with a wall (if it's large enough).

 

[wellington]

Yes they need to be separated. They already have not been cared for properly and living under stress from being in a pair and not properly housed.
We wouldn't say it if it weren't needed. We all would love to keep our tortoises in pairs, but we don't because it could kill them!

 

[Tom]

For my two little sulcata tortoises do they need a heat lamp at night? I’ve been using a nightlight heat lamp during the night and they like to sleep by it but I don’t know if I should have it on because the temperature in my house is already 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

Please read these threads. Your tortoise's lives literally depend on it:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

It needs to be dark at night but still at least 80 degrees. Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

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.

Living as a pair is causing terrible chronic stress, so yes, they need to be separated ASAP. The stress of living as a pair along with being too cold is a recipe for sickness.

Forgive us if we seem pushy about this, but it is urgent and important for the health of your tortoises. Our goal is only to help keep your tortoises healthy and make you a happy tortoise keeper.