How long to keep a heat lamp and UVB on for hatchling?

[islandtort]

I have a western hermanns hatchling with a 100w heat bulb and a 10.0 UVB bulb. I have a couple questions.

1- I know they should have 12-14hrs of light but if I cut one out at 14hrs and the other at 16hrs would that negatively effect anything? If not- which one do I cut out first?

2- I leave for work at 5am 3 days out of the week- should I turn his lights on and wake him up before I go or just put his food out and let him wake up on his own as the lights can be on a timer and I can set it for later? (Sometimes even when the lights are on he won’t get himself up until the afternoon).

Essentially I don’t want his lights to have to go out When we’re just getting home and starting to unwind and I want him to be on a schedule. What do you guys think?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I use timers.
You want a cycle of 12 hours of simulated daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
The UVB can be used for the entire 12 hours if it is the primary light source. Or a bit less if not. The heat lamp should be on a thermostat during the daytime hours and you cab use a CHE at night to maintain heat with no light at night.
They get used to the schedule

 

[Tom]

I have a western hermanns hatchling with a 100w heat bulb and a 10.0 UVB bulb. I have a couple questions.

1- I know they should have 12-14hrs of light but if I cut one out at 14hrs and the other at 16hrs would that negatively effect anything? If not- which one do I cut out first?

2- I leave for work at 5am 3 days out of the week- should I turn his lights on and wake him up before I go or just put his food out and let him wake up on his own as the lights can be on a timer and I can set it for later? (Sometimes even when the lights are on he won’t get himself up until the afternoon).

Essentially I don’t want his lights to have to go out When we’re just getting home and starting to unwind and I want him to be on a schedule. What do you guys think?

Your questions:
1. What kind of 10.0? Tube? T8 or T5? CFL? In any case, the UV should only be on for a few hours mid day. Ambient and basking lamps should be on for 12-13 hours. These should all be set on a timer. I try to match the daylight hours outside to a degree.
2. Use timers. The tortoise needs a consistent day/night cycle.

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. 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.