Light/Heating help!!

[Burtoony]

I'm soon to be getting a 5 month old Sulcata tortoise and i've read so much about the lighting/heating lamps it's made me confused.
Can anyone please tell me what sort of lamps are best and also how long they need to be on for? - i've read as little as 3 hours a day, 12 hours a day etc
(Any other Sulcata advice would also be really helpful!) thank you!

 

[JoesMum]

Hi

You have come to the right place. There are some real species experts on here working hard to correct the misinformation

Start with reading :

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

How to raise a healthy sulcata
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Lights should be on for 12 hours. You're mimicking the sun. Use a timer so they come on and go off at the same time each day.

Your tort needs UVB. It Uses this to make vitamin D3 which helps it use the calcium it eats to have healthy bone and shell growth.

It also needs a basking lamp. Basking makes it warm up so it can be active and most importantly to digest its food.

For lights you need either
1. A Mercury Vapor Bulb which lasts around 12 months and provides both basking heat and UVB which I recommend.

Or
2. A basking reflector lamp and a separate UVB tube which is cheaper initially but only lasts 6 months.

There is a third UVB bulb which is a compact coil type and looks like a low energy light bulb. These damage tort's eyes and must not be used.

 

[Burtoony]

Hi

You have come to the right place. There are some real species experts on here working hard to correct the misinformation

Start with reading :

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

How to raise a healthy sulcata
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Lights should be on for 12 hours. You're mimicking the sun. Use a timer so they come on and go off at the same time each day.

Your tort needs UVB. It Uses this to make vitamin D3 which helps it use the calcium it eats to have healthy bone and shell growth.

It also needs a basking lamp. Basking makes it warm up so it can be active and most importantly to digest its food.

For lights you need either
1. A Mercury Vapor Bulb which lasts around 12 months and provides both basking heat and UVB which I recommend.

Or
2. A basking reflector lamp and a separate UVB tube which is cheaper initially but only lasts 6 months.

There is a third UVB bulb which is a compact coil type and looks like a low energy light bulb. These damage tort's eyes and must not be used

Thank you!

 

[JoesMum]

Post pictures as you're preparing your enclosure for your new friend and we'll help you perfect it

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome.
If you check what equipment you need before you part with your cash it could save you money and will ensure you have the safest options.
e.g. shallow terracotta plant saucers are safer and much cheaper than the sort pets stores try to sell you, and temp guns are more accurate and easier to use for spot checking temps at tort level than the stick in dial thermometers pet stores sell, as are digital temp and humidity gauges with probes.

 

[coexistence]

Hi, I am also a newbie at tortoise keeping. I have 2 Leopard hatchling tortoises. I also done a lot of readings. So to sum it up, how many types of lighting do we supposed to have? ok, 1 for for uvb, 1 for basking/heating during the day and 1 ceramic heat emitter for night time heating. pls correct me if I'm wrong. Thks

 

[Alexio]

Hi, I am also a newbie at tortoise keeping. I have 2 Leopard hatchling tortoises. I also done a lot of readings. So to sum it up, how many types of lighting do we supposed to have? ok, 1 for for uvb, 1 for basking/heating during the day and 1 ceramic heat emitter for night time heating. pls correct me if I'm wrong. Thks

That is it in essence. Leopards need night heat so a che is necessary if temps are not high enough. They also sell mercury vapor bulbs which combine heat and uvb into one bulb. It is also advised you use a thermostat or rheostat to controller the ceramic heat emitter. It's also advised you don't keep your leopards in the same enclosure. But yes three types of "lighting". (Ceramic heat emitters produce no light only heat
.)