Help Setting Up New Enclosure

[Joey B.]

So I've got a baby Greek tortoise coming this week & I got a big plastic tub from Wal-Mart a few days ago (it's 30" x 20" x 15" tall) and I ordered some lighting & heating supplies from Amazon and they came this morning.

Nothing seems to work like it's supposed to. I bought the wrong size fixtures for the light & heating element I bought (not a huge deal, I can get larger but they don't really "clamp" onto this tub very well anyway - I'm scared they're going to come loose & fall in) but the mercury vapor bulb puts off this weird light that doesn't really light the inside up well. I'm thinking I should have just gone with a Reptisun UVB bulb to begin with.

Currently, I've got this mercury vapor bulb, 2 of these fixtures/clamp lights & this heating element.

Can someone help me out with this? Maybe tell me exactly what I need to get (&/or return) to make this work? I feel so clueless. I thought this would be easy but other than the timers I ordered, I don't think anything I got is going to work with this.

I'm working 10-12 hours a day every day this week and I thought I could get this set up today. If I can't make this work today or in the morning I don't know what I'm going to do. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

Joey

 

[Yvonne G]

Your light fixture is too small. You want one with either a 10" or 12" dome, not the little 5.5" dome in that link. Also, you don't use the clamp feature. You've got to figure out a way to hang the light so it shines straight down. Clamping at an angle shortens the life of the MVB. Besides that, the clamps sometimes fail, causing the light to fall into the enclosure and might hurt your tortoise or cause a fire.

I've never used that brand of light, so can't really say if it's good or bad, but you don't really care if the light has UVA or not. You're looking to provide UVB for the tortoise.

Here's what I use, and I buy them at lightyourreptiles.com:

They sell the bulb plus the fixture to mount it in.

Then for heat, I use either this:

(a radiant heat panel - RHP)

or this:

This is a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) and can be mounted in the 10/12" dome fixture

The combination fixture and CHE is cheaper than the RHP, and would probably be a better way for you to start out. You will have to keep measuring the temperature, but I think you'll end up keeping the CHE on day and night to maintain the proper temp inside the enclosure.

 

[Yvonne G]

I've bought several of these over the years:



It's a light stand made by Zoo Med. The 'foot' sits under the enclosure making it a pretty stable stand to hang your light from, and the 'arm' extends out over the enclosure as far as you need it to.

But, because I don't have much money, I have improvised many different types of home made stands too:

 

[Yvonne G]

I hope this helps.

 

[Joey B.]

Thank you! So, if i can get the Reptisun light to provide the light, is one CHE all I would need & leave it on 24/7? I guess I was under the impression that I would use one during the day over his basking spot & another, less intense one at night to keep the entire enclosure just a little warmer since this room gets a little chilly at night.

 

[Joey B.]

Also, what's the best size for the CHE? And what's the best way to hang this Reptisun fixture over something like this? (I'm assuming they're made to go over terrariums or aquariums)

Thanks so much for the help. Headed to PetSmart now to get everything new. lol

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you! So, if i can get the Reptisun light to provide the light, is one CHE all I would need & leave it on 24/7? I guess I was under the impression that I would use one during the day over his basking spot & another, less intense one at night to keep the entire enclosure just a little warmer since this room gets a little chilly at night.

Well, like I said, you have to keep checking the temperature (an infra red gun helps). Since the tube type bulb doesn't put out much heat, you'll need to keep the CHE on during the day. If your species of tortoise, while a baby, can tolerate a drop in temp at night you may not need the CHE at night, but for the species I keep, I have it on day and night.

 

[Yvonne G]

Also, what's the best size for the CHE? And what's the best way to hang this Reptisun fixture over something like this? (I'm assuming they're made to go over terrariums or aquariums)

Thanks so much for the help. Headed to PetSmart now to get everything new. lol

I doubt you're going to find what you need at Petsmart. I order all my stuff online. The fluorescent fixture has hanging tabs and you just attach chain or string or whatever and hang it from some sort of light stand like I showed above.

I've never bought any CHE stronger than 100 watt. Now Petsmart probably WILL have that.

 

[Yvonne G]

Here's a picture of one of my fluorescent fixtures inside a closed chamber. You can see that it is hanging off a wooden closet rod, using the 'hooks' that the light comes with.