Hi!!

[ShelbysMom]

I'm very new to the tortoise world. I have my baby sulcata and her name is Shelby. She's very nosey, but oh my gosh is she cute. I'm struggling with the light setup for her. I've seen the pictures of pyramiding and I'm scared of doing this to her. So, I bought a che and plan on ditching the red light. I am really confused about the uvb/basking light....... What exactly am I looking for? There's bad lights that hurt them, what are those ones? I see some with misters, do I need that? The more I read, the more confused I get. So any and all help is welcomed.
Oh and we're in Vegas.

 

[G-stars]

Hell and welcome.

It can all seem a bit overwhelming at first with lots of information all over the place which may contradict itself. You should really read this care sheet. Tom did a great job of writing it, so many people on here house their tortoises in a similar way. Please take the time to read the care sheet, as it well answer most if not all your questions.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? 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. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Jan A]

I'm very new to the tortoise world. I have my baby sulcata and her name is Shelby. She's very nosey, but oh my gosh is she cute. I'm struggling with the light setup for her. I've seen the pictures of pyramiding and I'm scared of doing this to her. So, I bought a che and plan on ditching the red light. I am really confused about the uvb/basking light....... What exactly am I looking for? There's bad lights that hurt them, what are those ones? I see some with misters, do I need that? The more I read, the more confused I get. So any and all help is welcomed.
Oh and we're in Vegas.

Shelby is quite the gorgeous girl. Welcome to the forum!!

 

[ShelbysMom]

Hell and welcome.

It can all seem a bit overwhelming at first with lots of information all over the place which may contradict itself. You should really read this care sheet. Tom did a great job of writing it, so many people on here house their tortoises in a similar way. Please take the time to read the care sheet, as it well answer most if not all your questions.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? 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. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Would you happen to know anything about these lights ?

 

[KarenSoCal]

Would you happen to know anything about these lights ?

Don't use that light. It's a LED replacement bulb, so I doubt if it actually emits UVB at all. And the coil bulb it replaces is the kind that burns eyes.

For UVB you want a T5 HO tube type bulb probably 12%. There are different manufacturers, Arcadia and ZooMed are the most popular. The first time you buy a bulb, you also need the fixture to hold it. After that, you can just buy the bulb. However, living in Las Vegas, are you able to take Shelby outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week? She needs a safe enclosure with access to both sun and shade. If you can do this most of the year, you don't need any indoor UVB. If you want it anyway, here's a ZooMed...note that you need to select the lengths. A 22" bulb fits a 24" hood.
Hood...

You are being redirected...

Bulb...

You are being redirected...

 

[ShelbysMom]

Don't use that light. It's a LED replacement bulb, so I doubt if it actually emits UVB at all. And the coil bulb it replaces is the kind that burns eyes.

For UVB you want a T5 HO tube type bulb probably 12%. There are different manufacturers, Arcadia and ZooMed are the most popular. The first time you buy a bulb, you also need the fixture to hold it. After that, you can just buy the bulb. However, living in Las Vegas, are you able to take Shelby outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week? She needs a safe enclosure with access to both sun and shade. If you can do this most of the year, you don't need any indoor UVB. If you want it anyway, here's a ZooMed...note that you need to select the lengths. A 22" bulb fits a 24" hood.
Hood...

You are being redirected...

Bulb...

You are being redirected...

For most of the year going outside isn't an issue, but right now, even during the day, it's too cold for her at this age...... It's been anywhere from mid 50's to upper 70's....... Very cloudy and windy. She'll turn into a little popsicle.

 

[Walnut's_pet]

Would you happen to know anything about these lights ?

Welcome Shelby's Mom. I've researched those lights for my tort and dragon but although they advertise UVB from an LED, it's only like 2%. You need a bub that produces at least 10% and you can get that from florescent tube style bulbs (stay away from the little coils that screw into a standard bulb socket). Get yourself a florescent strip light fixture (T5's are High Output (HO) and more efficient, but more expensive... T8's are the old standard and cheaper but less efficient). and then find a good reptile/amphibian dedicated florescent bulb of the same type (T5/T8). Keep in mind the bulbs should be swapped out about every 6 months because the UVB output starts to wane. I prefer ones from ZooMed personally. There are also mercury vapor bulbs that act as a flood light (heat source) and emit UVB. Upside is you get two in one and the UVB output tends to be slightly longer lived than florescent tubes. They are more expensive though and they dont provide the flexibility that having two separate basking and UVB bulbs would provide. Please do follow the recommendations from the guide mentioned above. Please pay particular attention to hydration and humidity for baby torts. I found the folks on here to be a Wealth of information (and friendly) over the last few years, so take advantage.
Bob

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome!