How Long Should I Keep My UVB Light On?

[Julian32122]

From my understanding, we should keep our UVA lights on from sunrise to sundown (12-14 hours a day) to simulate sunlight.

What about UVB? How many hours a day is it appropriate to keep on my UVB T5 12% Arcadia tube? (My solar meter reads anywhere from 1.9 - 5.0 throughout the enclosure).

Is it a 12-14 hour thing or less? Thanks!

 

[jsheffield]

I used to vary it seasonally, but for simplicity's sake have switched to a straight 12:12 schedule, and I run the UV lights through the same time as any other lights I'm using over my enclosures.

Jamie

 

[Tom]

From my understanding, we should keep our UVA lights on from sunrise to sundown (12-14 hours a day) to simulate sunlight.

What about UVB? How many hours a day is it appropriate to keep on my UVB T5 12% Arcadia tube? (My solar meter reads anywhere from 1.9 - 5.0 throughout the enclosure).

Is it a 12-14 hour thing or less? Thanks!

What species are we talking about?

You don't need a UVA bulb. That is just gimmicky reptile product seller talk. This tells me that you likely have the wrong type of basking bulb. Is it an "intense spot" bulb?

Here is a simplified break down of heating and lighting:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

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. 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.
3. 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 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

 

[Julian32122]

What species are we talking about?

You don't need a UVA bulb. That is just gimmicky reptile product seller talk. This tells me that you likely have the wrong type of basking bulb. Is it an "intense spot" bulb?

Here is a simplified break down of heating and lighting:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

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. 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.
3. 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 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

Hi Tom, thanks!

I should have clarified that I am using the T5 HO 12% Arcadia bulb (from lightyourreptiles.com). My Solar Meter 6.5 reads levels of 1.5 - 4.8 throughout the enclosure so the T5 HO is working well.

And I see - I have been using my basking bulb as my “daylight” bulb rather than having a separate LED so I’ll fix that.

Regarding the T5 HO 12% Arcadia light, I have been running it only 5 hours a day at peak.

Would you recommend less or more time for a Russian Tortoise?

 

[Markw84]

Hi Tom, thanks!

I should have clarified that I am using the T5 HO 12% Arcadia bulb (from lightyourreptiles.com). My Solar Meter 6.5 reads levels of 1.5 - 4.8 throughout the enclosure so the T5 HO is working well.

And I see - I have been using my basking bulb as my “daylight” bulb rather than having a separate LED so I’ll fix that.

Regarding the T5 HO 12% Arcadia light, I have been running it only 5 hours a day at peak.

Would you recommend less or more time for a Russian Tortoise?

5 hours a day midday is good. I actually run my UVB bulb about 3-4 hours midday. But you then need to be sure you have some good, bright ambient lighting that is still in the 6000k range to keep the enclosure bright.

You still have not replied to what type of tortoise this is. That is an important consideration for the answer as a temperate species, and many tropicals, do best when given a photoperiod that will vary with season. If a temperate species and you are not brumating, it is important to keep a "summer" photoperiod to keep it active - 14-15 hours on/9-10 hours off for the overall lighting.

 

[Julian32122]

5 hours a day midday is good. I actually run my UVB bulb about 3-4 hours midday. But you then need to be sure you have some good, bright ambient lighting that is still in the 6000k range to keep the enclosure bright.

You still have not replied to what type of tortoise this is. That is an important consideration for the answer as a temperate species, and many tropicals, do best when given a photoperiod that will vary with season. If a temperate species and you are not brumating, it is important to keep a "summer" photoperiod to keep it active - 14-15 hours on/9-10 hours off for the overall lighting.

Sorry, I mentioned it was a Russian tortoise at the very end of my last response. I should have mentioned it higher up.

But yes, it seems like Russians are not a temperate species. I guess they do not really need a summer photoperiod?

 

[Julian32122]

I figured I may as well show you guys exactly what I'm working with so it's easier for to visualize.

Shown in the picture, after taking your advice, I installed a bright daylight LED bulb directly in the middle of the enclosure to light up the entire space. In the big deep dome, I have a CHE for night time temps as it gets chilly at night. On the right hand side, I have a 100 watt flood bulb for basking. And lastly, I have the 46 inch T5 HO 12% that turns on 3-4 hours a day mid-day (it is off in the photo). Everything was double checked with a Solar Meter to ensure my Russian tort is getting enough UVB.

I plan on running the LED and basking flood light 12-14 hours a day and the T5 HO 3-4 hours a day and the CHE at night.

I hope this is something along the lines of what you guys recommended I do? @Tom and @Markw84

 

[Tom]

Sorry, I mentioned it was a Russian tortoise at the very end of my last response. I should have mentioned it higher up.

But yes, it seems like Russians are not a temperate species. I guess they do not really need a summer photoperiod?

All of that sounds great.

Russian are definitely a temperate species. Temperate climates have four seasons with hot summers and cold winters. Tropical climates are more or less warm all the time.

Unless your house gets below 60 at night, you really shouldn't need night heat for a Russian.

What size is your tortoise?