Hermaan tortoise help

[Kelleeann]

Helllo tortoise lovers,
I’ve been bought a Hermaan tortoise, she is 9 months old ( still deciding on a name), when I received her she was in a small table top box which I’ve now upgraded to a table top -four and a half foot by three foot, I believe she has everything she needs in there as I’ve tried to mimic her natural environment , my question is about the lighting and heat as there is so much conflicting information out there,
I’ve invested in a combined uva and uvb bulb which is 80 watts, it is in a arcadia clamp lamp,- is this correct for for her?, I turn it on in the mornings at 8am and turn off at 8-9pm in the evenings ,she seems happy and lies under it most of the the day and she is eating well etc
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated as I just want her to be a happy little soul
thank you in advance for any help
kind regards to all
kellee and (the unnamed Hermaan)

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
There is a lot of old and incorrect information still being passed around but now you've found TFO you'll only get up to date advice from very experienced keepers.
This is the caresheet you need to make sure s/he has everything needed

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? 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. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Please read that but ask as many questions as you like. Most tort problems are caused by things we do or don't do for them but if you follow the advice there, your tort should thrive.
The combined MVB bulbs aren't recommended anymore because they have been found to dry and damage shells, the clamps have also been known to fail and cause fires so it's safer to hang any bulbs - they can also be raised or lowered to adjust temps.
Many of us use a T5 HO UVB tube kit, with a flood basking bulb (I like Arcadia for both) and a CHE run through a thermostat, for night heat and extra heat when needed.
Open tables are difficult to maintain heat and humidity so you may want to consider using a portable mini greenhouse to cover it and hang lamps inside.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[Kelleeann]

Hi and welcome,
There is a lot of old and incorrect information still being passed around but now you've found TFO you'll only get up to date advice from very experienced keepers.
This is the caresheet you need to make sure s/he has everything needed

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? 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. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Please read that but ask as many questions as you like. Most tort problems are caused by things we do or don't do for them but if you follow the advice there, your tort should thrive.
The combined MVB bulbs aren't recommended anymore because they have been found to dry and damage shells, the clamps have also been known to fail and cause fires so it's safer to hang any bulbs - they can also be raised or lowered to adjust temps.
Many of us use a T5 HO UVB tube kit, with a flood basking bulb (I like Arcadia for both) and a CHE run through a thermostat, for night heat and extra heat when needed.
Open tables are difficult to maintain heat and humidity so you may want to consider using a portable mini greenhouse to cover it and hang lamps inside.

Thank you so much for this, it has cleared up a lot of the doubts I was having,
kind regards
kellee and the unnamed Hermaan