how much lighting a day

[pdrobber]

how many hours a day should uvb light be on? basking light?
are night time temp drops ok to no lower than 65 F in apartment?
should night time heat bulb, infrared or blue type, be used?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I keep my UVb lights on for 13 hours a day. I turn the basking lights on when I get up and turn them off when I go to bed. All of [/i]my habitats with smaller tortoises have a black light bulb in them for nighttime heat...

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

We follow a natural sunlight cycle per day.

 

[ChiKat]

I usually keep Nelson's lights on for 12 hours, off for 12. In the winter I keep them on for 14 hours.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi pdrobber:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know your name? And what kind of tortoise are we talking about?

 

[Floof]

I do 12-14 hours on, 10-12 hours off for my diurnal reptiles, with everything going on/off at the same time. As for night time temps, it depends on what species you're talking about. If we're talking adult Russian Tortoise, for example, nighttime temps in the 60s won't hurt. If we're talking about a tropical species or, say, a hatchling Sulcata or Leopard tortoise (especially if kept appropriately moist), nighttime temps in the 60s may be a bad thing. You'll get more tailored and specific answers if you can tell us what species your tortoise is, and roughly what age it is.

 

[pdrobber]

Thanks for all your repliies! My name is Peter. I live and go to school in NYC. I've had my Russian tortoise, Tori for about five years, I got her when I was in high school and still livingwith my parents on Long Island. I finally moved her into the city to live with me in my apartment where I can take care of her 100% and soak her, feed her good stuff, control the lighting as opposed to the past where my parents threw her veggies and a head of lettuce and switched the lights whenever they remembered...I have no idea how old she is I got her from a pet store but my guess would be around 7-10 years.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Peter:

In answer to your question, if you don't want the tortoise to hibernate, then you need to simulate summertime days. So the light should be on for at least 12 hours...14 would be better. If the tortoise room gets pretty cold at night, then you would need some sort of heat at night too. For an adult Russian tortoise 65 degrees and up would be ok at night.

I'd be willing to bet that your tortoise is an adult, and older than 7 to 10 years. Most pet shop Russians are wild caught. And most pet shops, because of the Russian's normally small size, will tell their customers that its a very young tortoise, and that's usually not the case at all.

It sounds like you really love your tortoise and are trying to give it the best care possible. We're glad to have you here with us on the Forum.

 

[Becki]

Sorry..a little confused. When the MVB light is on the basking light should be on as well?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Easiest way I've found to simulate "summer" is a light timer set to turn on the light @ 6am and off @ 8:30...any hardware store'll carry a few different models, but I stick w/ the G-E product, as they have always worked well for me. YMMV

 

[Yvonne G]

Sorry..a little confused. When the MVB light is on the basking light should be on as well?

If you have an MVB light, a REAL MVB light and not just a UVB light, then you don't need another light for basking. The MVB light IS the basking light. MVB = UV plus heat.

 

[toxodon1]

I give all of mine about 12 hours daily.

 

[Becki]

Thanks Yvonne!