Heating and lighting - adult sulcata

[Beth-j-t]

Hi all

I have just moved house and replaced all my sulcatas housing and equipment at the same time. The guy at the reptile store advised me to buy the Arcadia d3 basking lamp as in the long run it is cheaper. However I already have a uvb bulb and really just wanted the heat lamp. My issue/question is, is this product any good? I'm confused as I was always told to turn the uvb off after around 12 hours but with this one it would also turn the heat lamp off and at night (when it will be off) it is bitterly called in our house. Am I just better with the uvb bulb and heat lamp if so what heat lamp do I want?

Thanks in advance.
Beth

 

[Dizisdalife]

Hi Beth. I am not familiar with the Arcadia lamp, but you are right that it needs to be off for 12 hours. Sulcata like it dark for sleeping. I used a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) attached to a thermostat for night time heat. Covering the enclosure will also help hold the heat in so the CHE does have to run all night.

 

[Beth-j-t]

Thanks for your reply. Which watt lamp do you use and is it in a porcelain lamp clamp?

 

[Tom]

Hi Beth. Welcome to the forum. In order to make recommendations we need to know how you are housing your tortoise, how many tortoise we are talking about, and where in the world you are.

Many of us don't use any lighting at all for adult sulcatas because they live outside year round with heated night boxes.

Having said that, Arcadia bulbs have a great reputation for quality and effectiveness. I use them in some of my indoor enclosures. But they also make many different types of bulbs, so we need to know which type you are asking about. MVB, florescent tube, HO tube, etc...

Also, there are many other ways to heat large sulcatas that will work better than small light bulbs, but we need to know more about your housing situation before we can recommend anything.

 

[Beth-j-t]

I live in the UK and have considered outside housing but I think it's way too cold here.

I have 1 tortoise who has full run of the house with an "enclosure" (3sides a top but no doors) where his uvb bulb and heat lamp are for him to go into when he's cold.

The 160w bulb emits uva uvb and ir however from what I understand the light from uvb/uvb cannot be turned of which I think makes it unsuitable for night time however I can just turn it off as the temperature would drop way too low. I have a uvb bulb which was bought recently so wondering if I should return the combined bulb and get a heat emitting one to use with the uvb bulb.

Hope this helps please let me know if you need anymore info.

Beth

 

[Tom]

The general strategy for most people s to have a basking UV lamp like your Arcadia mercury vapor bulb set on a timer for day time, and then have some other non-light producing heat source set on a thermostat for maintain a warm ambient temp day and night.

This is one of my outdoor night boxes. You could apply these same principles to your indoor shelter.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/

I've never kept sulcatas in an environment like yours, so I am going to bow out of this and let others with this kind of experience advise you. I would be remiss if I didn't advise you that letting a tortoise roam loose in a human house is a very dangerous practice and I strongly advise against it.

 

[Beth-j-t]

Hi Tom

Thanks for your reply. I will take a look at your outdoor enclosure. Just out of interest would it be safe to house my tortoise outside all year round in the UK?

Also he only has access to the whole how whilst we are home and can keep an eye on his. Whilst we're out he is in a large hazard free room.

Thanks.
Beth

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

My personal opinion is: take care of the cold weather in the UK. I live in Jordan and we've had snow for almost a week or so. Although I live in aflat that is centrally heated, my beloved tortoise is keeping me somewhat worried with this freezing weather. Imagine that temperature has dropped to a -8 degrees Celcius! Please keep us updated and good luck.