Incandescent for heat -- recommended wattage?

[FujiBaird]

So my little juvenile Hermann's named Roma is settling in to her new home. Unfortunately, we've had a run of bad weather. Because of that, her outdoor enclosure is not done yet, and she's been spending more time in a bin indoors than I'd like. She's been eating like a champ on the days we've been able to let her outside, but her appetite is very poor/non-existent on the days she's been inside. The outdoor enclosure should be done by the end of the week, but in the meantime I'd like to give her a incandescent light for basking/heat.

Can you suggest a bulb wattage to start out with? I have a dome fixture that will be placed on top of a cookie cooling rack approximately 7-8" above the substrate. 60W? 40W since it's so close? I have a temperature gun on order but it won't be arriving until the weekend... right when I (hopefully) won't be needing this particular setup anymore!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

A 40w wouldn't give off much heat. A 60 or a 75 would be your best bet. Make sure that the lighting fixture is designed to hold at least the wattage of the bulb that you choose. What type of turtle /tortoise is this?

 

[Yvonne G]

I use 100 watt incandescent bulbs for day time indoors. But it really depends upon the size of your enclosure.

 

[Tom]

I would suggest a 65 watt flood bulb, but you will need to check the temperature under your bulb in your enclosure and make adjustments in either there bulb/fixture height or the wattage, as needed.

 

[FujiBaird]

Thank you all! While I thought the fixture was rated higher, it's only rated for 60W. Thankfully I happened to have a 60W bulb lying around so I'll try that for today until I can get a better bulb & fixture (or even better, the outdoor enclosure!). Tom/Yvonne, it's a juvenile Hermann's, and the temporary bin is about 18" by 30".

 

[FujiBaird]

This was about 20 minutes after I put in the bulb... I'll take this as a sign of approval from Roma.

It's not terribly hot under the bulb -- I'm guessing high 80s -- but the fixture is fairly hot.