Heating at night

arnoldthetortoise

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May 25, 2018
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Sunderland
Hello I’m new to being a tortoise owner and I have what I assume a baby Russian tortoise, I wasn’t told it’s age at the store I got it from but it’s fairly small, I’m concerned about the heating in my room at my night, I was instructed to get a heat mat at first but later found out there not good so stopped using it but the room I keep my tortoise in gets cold at night so I’ve been leaving my heat lamp but turning off my UV light and placed his hide further away from the direct light, is this okay ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks.
 

Toddrickfl1

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You don't want to run a light 24 hrs that's not good for the tort. Look into a ceramic heat emitter. They don't put out light just heat.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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FIrst, lets see a picture of the tortoise to verify species. Different species have different temperature requirements. You need to know what you've got in order to care for it properly.

Second thing we need to know is what is the over night low temperature in the living room? "Cold" means different things to different people.
 

TechnoCheese

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Lewisville, Texas
Hello I’m new to being a tortoise owner and I have what I assume a baby Russian tortoise, I wasn’t told it’s age at the store I got it from but it’s fairly small, I’m concerned about the heating in my room at my night, I was instructed to get a heat mat at first but later found out there not good so stopped using it but the room I keep my tortoise in gets cold at night so I’ve been leaving my heat lamp but turning off my UV light and placed his hide further away from the direct light, is this okay ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Welcome to the forum!
If you’re not sure what species your tortoise is, then that’s a huge problem. Please give us a picture of your tortoise and enclosure.
Tortoises need total darkness at night, so you should not have any lights on. If it’s a Russian, you only need night heat if your enclosure gets below 60-65 degrees at night, as long as you have a proper, 100 degree basking spot during the day.
If it does get cold at night, then you should use a ceramic heat emitter. They emit only heat, and no light.IMG_0801.jpg
 

arnoldthetortoise

New Member
Joined
May 25, 2018
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Sunderland
FIrst, lets see a picture of the tortoise to verify species. Different species have different temperature requirements. You need to know what you've got in order to care for it properly.

Second thing we need to know is what is the over night low temperature in the living room? "Cold" means different things to different people.

IMG_1527288242.385343.jpg
 

DARKFIRE007

Active Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2018
Messages
242
Location (City and/or State)
Birmingham Alabama
Wow that is a great looking lil guy. I would also hit up Ebay for the ceramic heat bulb...they sell 100 watt one's a LOT cheaper than the reptile branded stuff. I get them for like 2 bucks and they last a good while. I wouldn't use them for basking as they aren't quite hot enough (mid 80's in degrees) but for night warmth they work well in a cool home.
 

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