I have a 5-year-old male Hermann's tortoise. To date, based on information I gathered online several years ago, I have been using a 17W T8 UVB 10 lamp (Zoo Med). I learned this week that T8 bulbs should be switched every 6 months as they cease producing UVB radiation after that time. Reading online, it seems that most people are now recommending use of T5 lamps as they produce UVB up to 12 months. However, I don't think a T5 lamp with similar UVB output would work for my cage setup. The lamp currently sits on top of the cage, projecting through light mesh, about 25 cm above the substrate. Please see the attached picture. At this height, I think most T5 lamps would be too strong.
I see a lot of people now recommend Arcadia lamps. When I look at the Arcadia website for lighting recommendations for Hermann's tortoises with the light placed at 30-40 cm above the substrate, it recommends T8 UVB 12% D3+ Desert or T5 UVB 6% D3 Forest. I need a 24" fixture to span the width of the cage. I can find 24" Arcadia T5 fixtures for sale online but am not seeing any 24" Arcadia T8 fixtures for sale (even on the Arcadia website when Arcadia suggests that a T8 solution can work).
Can anyone point me to a specific lamp and bulb combination that is suitable for my enclosure? It is also unclear to me that the Arcadia T8 UVB 12% D3+ Desert and T5 UVB 6% D3 Forest are fully equivalent. Can anyone point me to the math indicating that the pertinent radiation metric is the same or similar for the two lamps?
Thanks to all and happy holidays.
I see a lot of people now recommend Arcadia lamps. When I look at the Arcadia website for lighting recommendations for Hermann's tortoises with the light placed at 30-40 cm above the substrate, it recommends T8 UVB 12% D3+ Desert or T5 UVB 6% D3 Forest. I need a 24" fixture to span the width of the cage. I can find 24" Arcadia T5 fixtures for sale online but am not seeing any 24" Arcadia T8 fixtures for sale (even on the Arcadia website when Arcadia suggests that a T8 solution can work).
Can anyone point me to a specific lamp and bulb combination that is suitable for my enclosure? It is also unclear to me that the Arcadia T8 UVB 12% D3+ Desert and T5 UVB 6% D3 Forest are fully equivalent. Can anyone point me to the math indicating that the pertinent radiation metric is the same or similar for the two lamps?
Thanks to all and happy holidays.