How long for light to reach temperature and how far awAy?

[Louise66]

Hi everyone,
I have had my two hermanns for nearly two weeks now. My question in the uva/uvb light and heat.
1, how long should it take to reach the optimum temp? I aim between 28-30 as advised. It gets there but seems to take ages. Ive lowered it on occasions but then the basking spot gets too hot eventually.
How far away from the tortoise should it be? I Seen some that seem really close and mine isnt. Would they be not the combi ones?
The temp gage i have is the komodo digital with the probe at the end of the wire.
Can anyone help me out, i want them to grow properly.
Thanks

 

[Tom]

Only your thermometer can answer these questions.

The basking area directly under the bulb should be around 37. 28-30 is a good daytime ambient for the rest of the enclosure.

I'm going to leave two links here. They should appear green on your screen. Click on these links and all your questions are answered, plus more important info that you haven't asked about yet. Read these threads and then come back and ask any questions that weren't answered.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Care for hermanni is the same as for Russians.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a hermanni. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species.
3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb.

If you want them to grow properly, you need to separate them. Tortoises should never live as pairs.

 

[Louise66]

Hi Tom
Thanks we have separated them into different enclosures after your advice. I see you say so not use mercury bulbs. We have a uva/uvb mega ray bulb as was suggested by the breeder we bought it from. It is though a mercury one , why is this a problem ?

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom
Thanks we have separated them into different enclosures after your advice. I see you say so not use mercury bulbs. We have a uva/uvb mega ray bulb as was suggested by the breeder we bought it from. It is though a mercury one , why is this a problem ?

When those bulbs first came out I used them to stop MBD in iguanas and beardies. They are great UV producers. Over time it became apparent that they had some problems:

1. They are very fragile. Bump it too hard or drop it and it is done.
2. They are very temperamental. Shutting themselves on and off all the time.
3. They are heat sensitive, and that is part of why number two happens. There is a sensor that cuts the bulb off if it reaches a certain temperature and then there is a time delay while it cools before it will turn back on. Many people think their bulb burned out because of this time delay.
4. They must be used in the correct type of large domed fixture, due to the overheating issue.
5. They shut off if you bump them.
6. Some of them, tested by a veterinarian with a UV meter here on the forum, stop producing any UV after just 3 months.
7. I can live with all of the above, but here is the one I can't live with: The type of heat and light these bulbs emit is extremely desiccating to tortoise shells. It causes pyramiding. There is no way around that, so I don't use or recommend them anymore for tortoises. Still good for lizards, but watch out for numbers 1-6.

 

[Louise66]

Hi Tom

I read the links you left me thanks.
The I my question I have left is the subatrate. I am using the blocks of coco coir that you add water too. My tortoises seem to like it and indeed burrow right down. Is this okay to use. The breeder we got them from recommended either sandand topsoil or the coco blocks. I do mist it every day, how damp should it consistently be ?
Also should I add sphagnum moss to their hide.
Thanks

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom

I read the links you left me thanks.
The I my question I have left is the subatrate. I am using the blocks of coco coir that you add water too. My tortoises seem to like it and indeed burrow right down. Is this okay to use. The breeder we got them from recommended either sandand topsoil or the coco blocks. I do mist it every day, how damp should it consistently be ?
Also should I add sphagnum moss to their hide.
Thanks

I prefer the coco coir for baby Testudo species. I recommend against using any bought-in-a-bag soil. Once they reach about 3.5-4 inches, I switch them onto orchid bark instead of the coir.

Misting probably won't be enough to maintain moisture. You'll probably need to dump water into the substrate to keep it damp enough. How much water and how often varies with each enclosure. There is a wide margin of error, so don't worry. If you get it too wet at some point, just let it dry out a little more before the next addition of water. Don't let it get dry enough to become dusty. Most of the time, I dump the water bowls into the substrate (if no poop...) in the course of dump/wipe/rinse/refilling them. I do this once or twice a day, and that amount of water is usually pretty close. If things get too wet, I'll skip the dumping part and hold the bowl over a bucket for the dumping and rinsing. If things are too dry, you might need a little more water than this. If you grab a handful of coir and squeeze it, water shouldn't come dripping out. A couple of drops from a really hard squeeze is okay, but not a puddle from a light squeeze. You should feel dampness, but not have mud. Using a thick layer and hand packing it down (3-4" after packing) will minimize the mess. After about two weeks of use, the coir "settles in" and becomes a little less messy.

Every tortoise I've ever kept eats the sphagnum moss. I stopped trying to use it years ago. Its great stuff in a snake, frog, salamander, or carnivorous lizard enclosure, but no good in a tortoise enclosure in most cases. When they eat it, it can cause impaction. Best to not use it.