Is this light enough?

hmain76

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Hello!
So I have a 7 year old Hermann’s tortoise and I’m trying to replace the big bulky dome lights with tube lights to make his habitat less cluttered looking.

I ordered this specific light on Amazon
(Oiibo T5 HO Reptile Light Fixture UVB Lighting Combo Kit Suit for Desert&Tropical Amphibians Reptiles Terrarium Lamp Hood Light Fixture Include 24W 12.0 UVB Bulb)

The light it gives is a lot more clinical feeling than I thought. This might be an incredibly stupid question but it made me second guess what the description meant by “combo kit”.

Is this the only light I need or do I need a separate heat/basking bulb that gives off warm light?

(I havent replaced his current lights yet. He is still getting the two standard dome light bulbs until I’m sure of the new set up)
 

wellington

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Combo usually means bulb and fixture. I don't know that brand so have no idea how good it is
You still will need an incandescent flood bulb for basking that reaches 95-100 at tort height.
 

Tom

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Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
  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.
 
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