I need help with my baby sulcata and it’s heat lights

[brian.le02]

Hola this is my first post but I am in need of some assistance everything in here has been very helpful but I had a question. I have a 60watt Exo Tera ceramic heater and I believe it is an infrared light but it does not show red I was wondering if this is ok to use during the day time as well as night time to maintain heat I also have a uvb light I will be using during the day and I will be giving him natural sunlight as well during his soaking time. So my question is
1. Can I use the Exo Tera Ceramic Heat (does not show light) during the day as long as it gives the correct temperatures I need
2. Does the imagers affect the baby sulcata

It looks like this https://images.app.goo.gl/cpKDX83Bhn3d3XfJ9

 

[aqualungs]

Hola this is my first post but I am in need of some assistance everything in here has been very helpful but I had a question. I have a 60watt Exo Tera ceramic heater and I believe it is an infrared light but it does not show red I was wondering if this is ok to use during the day time as well as night time to maintain heat I also have a uvb light I will be using during the day and I will be giving him natural sunlight as well during his soaking time. So my question is
1. Can I use the Exo Tera Ceramic Heat (does not show light) during the day as long as it gives the correct temperatures I need
2. Does the imagers affect the baby sulcata

It looks like this https://images.app.goo.gl/cpKDX83Bhn3d3XfJ9

I use mine day and night they are fine, for sure!

 

[brian.le02]

Do you keep it on all day everyday along with a uvb light?

 

[Ray--Opo]

Hola this is my first post but I am in need of some assistance everything in here has been very helpful but I had a question. I have a 60watt Exo Tera ceramic heater and I believe it is an infrared light but it does not show red I was wondering if this is ok to use during the day time as well as night time to maintain heat I also have a uvb light I will be using during the day and I will be giving him natural sunlight as well during his soaking time. So my question is
1. Can I use the Exo Tera Ceramic Heat (does not show light) during the day as long as it gives the correct temperatures I need
2. Does the imagers affect the baby sulcata

It looks like this https://images.app.goo.gl/cpKDX83Bhn3d3XfJ9

Welcome, what type of UVB light do you use?
Your heat is called a CHE( ceramic heat emitter) like Aqualungs said it is fine for day and night use.

 

[brian.le02]

Thank you, but I use a Reptisun 10.0 uvb light from zoomed

 

[Lyn W]

I always use mine for night heat as torts need darkness to sleep but also use it for extra heat during the day with the uvb if needed. I run it through a thermostat so that it switches on and off to keep temps even.
I'm not sure what you mean when you ask if 'imagers' affect the baby.

 

[brian.le02]

Oh ok thank you so I will just keep it on as long as the heat is maintained also I’m sorry I didn’t mean imagers I meant infrared haha sorry about that

 

[Lyn W]

No problem.
iI you can post pics of your tort enclosure and where the lamps are positioned members can advise on how you could possibly improve things then maybe you won't need the two. We have all needed help and advice that's why we became members.
Have you found the caresheet for sullies yet? That will give good advice about temps, diet, substrate etc
The temps don't have to be same in the whole enclosure as torts need cooler areas too, so if you post a pic then we can see if it needs any changes to keep your tort happy and healthy

 

[brian.le02]

Yes of course thank you for your help I really appreciate it

 

[Tom]

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 and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them.
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 like sulcatas. You'd usually only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT.
3. Light. I use florescent tubes or LEDs 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. This one is optional depending on how bright the room is and what other lights you are using.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside 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. Do not use a cfl type. Some of them are dangerous, and all of them are ineffective as a UV source.

Check these out too:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Markw84]

It sounds like you are not including all the components needed for proper basking. As Tom mentions above, you need all four of his listed items covered. To explain a bit more:

A basking area needs to provide 3 things to get the proper response and needed results for your tortoise. Bright light triggers the basking response and is where a tortoise will choose to bask. In nature, that will be where the additional heating from the sun will be - so that needs to have some moderate, but effective heat there. That is why we use a low wattage incandescent as it provides both light and heat but the IR is moderated to minimize desiccation as much as possible yet still have the heating effect. You then need UVB at the proper level at that location. Since the preferred UVB bulbs do not provide adequate IR to heat for the basking response, you will need to be sure your UVB light creates the desired UVB levels where the basking light is creating that basking zone. They need to be placed close together.

The UVB is used by the tortoise to create vitamin D3. The need for UVB exposure is satisfied with proper levels quite quickly. That is creating what is called "pre-vitamin D" in the skin. The bulk of the basking time is actually used for heating the skin. It is heated skin that then accelerated the conversion of pre vit D to D3. That process takes a few hours where the initial creation of pre vit D take minutes.

SO... A CHE should not be used for basking. That is for overall background heat maintenance.
A MVB does produce all three things needed for basking, but - they have 3 main problems I do not like. They produce a tremendous amount of near-IR (IR-A) and are very desiccating. They produce so much heat, they will overheat a proper closed chamber needed to maintain humidity. They also tend to burn out easily and often drop in UVB output quite quickly. They are just not good at operating in high heat without decent ventilation. So they don't work well in a chamber built to hold humidity.
Tube fluorescents are the best artificial source of UVB for our enclosures, but some added heating IR is needed for proper basking.

Bottom line - follow @Tom 's list of the 4 ingredients. Hopefully this will give you a bit of the WHY.

 

[Yvonne G]

Do you keep it on all day everyday along with a uvb light?

It all depends upon if you're able to keep the correct temperature. If it doesn't stay warm enough without the CHE, then it's perfectly fine to have it on during the day along with the light. In some of my enclosures I need the CHE plus the light to maintain the correct temperature. In others, the light does the job without the CHE.