Indoor: Good Strong Light

[austinbrehun]

Hello, I am new to tortoise care and was wondering about the best kind of light I should get for an indoor enclosure 2ft x 4ft.

I would like to know first off what brand would be best and any other information to help as im looking to not spend an insane amount ill probably look for the light on amazon.

Im temporarily using a Zilla Blue Day Light (full spectrum) until i get a new one. It puts off good head and says full spectrum im just aware they brake often so I need a sturdier better light.

Any information and suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Yvonne G]

The info about the Zilla bulb:

• Provides basking heat source for reptiles to regulate their body temperature
• Emits full-spectrum light and UVA rays needed for a healthy reptile environment
• Ideal for tropical and desert habitats
• Full-spectrum lamp

It says "full spectrum", but then says provides UVA rays. I really doubt at $8 that this bulb provides the necessary UVB rays. The tortoises don't need UVA as much as they need UVB.

I like this bulb:



It's quite a bit more expensive than your bulb, but it DOES provide the necessary UVB (plus heat). I buy mine on Amazon.

 

[austinbrehun]

Do you use this lighting for your tortoises? How long have you been using and are they durable and enough?

 

[Tom]

We need to know a bit more about what species and how you are housing it. There are infinite combinations of heating and lighting equipment to choose from and all of it has good and bad points.

I typed this up for another member a few days ago:

"Let me break down the heating and lighting thing. You need three or four elements:
1. Heat. During the day this is best accomplished with 65 watt flood bulbs from the hardware store set on digital timers. These also give some light. Move them higher or lower to get the basking temp under them correct. I buy them in 6 packs, so if they burn out I always have a spare on hand.
2. Light. Sometimes the basking bulb and ambient room light are enough. If not, use a tube style florescent strip light form the hardware store. Run it on the same timer as the heat lamps. Try to get a bulb in the 5000-6500K color range. The more common 2500K color range bulbs look yellowish.
3. Ambient temp maintenance and night heat. Tortoises need it dark at night, but still warm. This is best accomplished with the use of a CHE in a ceramic based fixture. Get the 11" ceramic based domes from Home Depot for all your heat lamps.
4. UV. Best to sun them for an hour two or more times a week. Its okay to skip a few weeks over winter and this will do no harm. Since you live in the frozen North (Okay, Midwest, but its a figure of speech…), you will need to provide some artificial UV. Several options for this:
a. Use a mercury vapor bulb, like the power sun for your basking bulb. Use this in the Home Depot fixture I mentioned, not in a small pet store dome or deep dome. Replace it every fall.
b. Use a long tube type 10.0 florescent bulb. These MUST be mounted no more than 10-12" from the tortoise to be effective.
c. Get an Arcadia 12% HO bulb from lightyourreptiles.com. These are great, but they make a lot of UV. Mount it at least 18" and as much as 26" away from the tortoise and put it on its own timer for only about 4 hours a day."

 

[leigti]

Do you use this lighting for your tortoises? How long have you been using and are they durable and enough?

I think power son is a very good brand. I have used there mercury vapor bulbs without any issues. Without a UV meter you should plan on replacing this bulb once a year. However, with this being said more information is needed to make recommendations on what you will need for heat and light. What type of tortoise? What age? 2 x 4 is a very small enclosure except for maybe a hatchling for a while. And most hatchlings will need night heat such as a ceramic heat emitter.
I know all this lighting and heating stuff can be overwhelming but you can get all the answers you need here.

 

[austinbrehun]

It is a Sulcata Tortoise unaware of age is about 3 inches long of a shell. Pretty small and doesnt even patrol whole tank yet. Still shy but has been walking around alot since I added Blue Zilla light

 

[leigti]

It is a Sulcata Tortoise unaware of age is about 3 inches long of a shell. Pretty small and doesnt even patrol whole tank yet. Still shy but has been walking around alot since I added Blue Zilla light

For now the power sun 100 W should work fine for daytime hours. You will need a CHE for nighttime and covering your enclosure in someway will help keep the heat in. You should keep it at 80° even at night. The basking area. Check out the care sheet at the top of the sulcata section for more information. You will definitely need a larger enclosure soon but you can make this one work for now.

 

[austinbrehun]

What is the recommended heating product For nightime with sulcata tortoise.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

What is the recommended heating product For nightime with sulcata tortoise.

I find heat panels to be a good heat source for 24/7. Many controllers allow a day time and night time setting, or you can set up two with one simply turned off at night.

Here is one company's panel and controller...
http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats

and for lighting they have one of the best...
http://www.reptilebasics.com/arcadia-UVB

I prefer the T5 HO tube lights, compacts may or may not have become better engineered or built, but they simply put to much light on to small a spot. The same 24 watt light broadcast over a two foot run of straight tube provides a better lighting scenario than the same 24 watt directed to one spot.

There are other companies out there who put put similar products at competitive prices. These guys for me have had perfect customer service.

 

[Tom]

What is the recommended heating product For nightime with sulcata tortoise.

I prefer ceramic heating elements set on a thermostat.

Give these a read through for some good tips. All the heating, lighting and much more is explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I prefer ceramic heating elements set on a thermostat./

Thermostat - also know as a controller. Many types and choices.

The biggest difference is number of channels (things it will control), if you can use two setting for one device, and if it is either ON/OFF or is it on at varying amounts so you don't get a "surge" of heat when the device is turned on to achieve the temp you have set it for.

Some controllers also have a timer function, or you can simply plug the controller into a timer for the same result.

All these features cost more. I have found for heating a night-house or enclosure the simple on/off controller works okay, my back ground (ambient) is not so variable. For an incubator I think the varying amount of heat to achieve the goal might be better.

Or you can just call the vendor and ask them. Some will always try to up-sell, some won't.