Lighting Change

[DaveTheDadHaileeTheDaughter]

I changed the lighting set up on our cherryhead enclosure a bit and hopefully it was a good move. What I did was open the holes drilled into the one lexan door to 3/4 inch holes (there are 34) and also added 9 more just adjacent to them. Over the 34 holes now hangs a 100 watt Zoo med power sun UVB light and adjacent to it is the red heat lamp. On the other end of the enclosure over her basking rock is a 125 watt Exo Terra Solar Glo UVB light. So during daytime now she has access to UVB on both sides and at night the two red heat lamps stay on over the humid end. This morning when I turned all the lights on she peeked up from the mound of moss/cypress she burrows down in an went over under the powersun light for a while then went an hung out on her basking rock so hopefully the added lights are a improvement from where we was when I first put this together.

 

[Jacqui]

Dave, thanks for telling me about this thread, I did miss it. Curiosity here, once you drilled those holes and with the lights you have over it now, what has been the change in temp and humidity levels on that side? Do you see any change in how much time or where she spends time?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I am wondering if the UVB rays go thru the plastic? Is your new bulb the Exo Terra Solar Glo UVB light a coil light? If it is you'll need to stop using it as they cause eye damages in our tortoises...

 

[DaveTheDadHaileeTheDaughter]

Dave, thanks for telling me about this thread, I did miss it. Curiosity here, once you drilled those holes and with the lights you have over it now, what has been the change in temp and humidity levels on that side? Do you see any change in how much time or where she spends time?

With the larger holes and switching to the mercury vapor bulb plus the other lamp temps jumped up to about 97 directly under the light, I raised the lights up so it stays about 91 under the lights. Im assuming with the larger holes the heat can penetrate directly into the enclosure instead of trying warm it from heating the surface of the lexan. Only downside ive noticed, before my humidity stayed above 75% now when I get home from work its down to 50-60%. With the larger holes and different uvb she does seem more active and hangs out under that light more than she did the other light we had.

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I am wondering if the UVB rays go thru the plastic? Is your new bulb the Exo Terra Solar Glo UVB light a coil light? If it is you'll need to stop using it as they cause eye damages in our tortoises...

The UVB rays dont penetrate the lexan, thats why I put all the 3/4 inch holes under the light hoping some of it would still get in, and is also why I added a second light on the other end of the enclosure,'Isis" varies where she hangs out so with the two lights hopefuly she's getting enough uvb. The UVB lights we are using are all mercury vapor bulbs I had a coil one early on but dont use it. Ive got a uvb meter ordered I want to see just how much uvb is actually getting inside that area with the setup im using.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I assume the Lexan is to retain humidity? If it were me, I would cut a hole in it the same diameter as the bulb fixture, so there is no question about UVB rays. With a large enclosure with the majority of it covered, the one large hole in one area shouldn't make too much of a humidity difference. I saw some data while back showing how much UVB is blocked by mesh screen, so I'd assume it was similar with Lexan with holes (the rays bounce back off the edges of the holes...not much is able to go straight down). I guess testing it with a UV meter is a good idea too!

By the way, its of my opinion that rocks at basking spots are a bad idea because they get very hot, in one concentrated area, so the tort is heated from both above (light) and below (rock)....unfortunately some torts do not move away even if they were getting burned, and in the heat level below burning but still too hot, you wouldn't have a way of telling. Your choice...just thought I'd mention it (although sure lots of people use basking rocks and haven't reported any problems). I just don't see a benefit to it, similar to under enclosure heating.

Anyone have an opinion on the use of two MVBs for a redfoot?

 

[Balboa]

Its an interesting setup Dave, I'll be curious as well how well it works out in the end. I'd suspect the same problem as others have mentioned with enough UV getting through, even with the holes, to be of benefit. Glad you're getting the meter, should be interesting what it tells us.