Hermann lighting

[THEADEMARCO]

So I am getting a Hermann's tortoise very soon, and I am worried about the amount of lighting her enclosure has. It is 100cm width 200 cm length (will be upgraded the bigger she gets). For the basking spot I have a 100W heat bulb, and for the rest of the enclosure a 85cm long UVB strip light. However, because the enclosure is 200cm long im wondering if I need more than the 85cm long UVB strip? Should I get two and line them up so that it extends along the rest of the enclosure too, or will just one strip be fine? Thanks.

 

[wellington]

The 100 watt basking bulb. If it's a mercury vapor bulb, don't use it.
You need an incandescent flood bulb for basking.
The tube florescent for uvb
And Ceramic heat emitter for any needed night heat
You can add another tube florescent if you want or any regular incandescent light.

 

[THEADEMARCO]

Thankfully Tom had warned me about MVB bulbs when I was close to getting one, so the basking bulb is a flood bulb and gives off pure heat. I think I will get two tubes of the uvb just to be safe, even if i dont end up using them both at the same time.
Also, thank you for the suggestion about the ceramic heater as no one has ever brought these up to me before. I live in England and we are approaching Winter so I will definitely look into getting one of these because nights can get quite cold here.

 

[Tom]

I would add the second LED. The whole enclosure should look bright and "sunny" during the day. Only one UV tube is needed. You don't want to overdo that aspect. Too much UV is not good for them.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

 

[THEADEMARCO]

Thank you for the info, when laid out all like this it is easy for even a novice like me to understand. About the LEDs though, do I need these specifically for the table or is it okay for me to just have the main light of the room turned on?