Lighting Coverage for Red-Footed Tortoise?

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littlesquirt

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I need to get the proper lighting for my red-footed tortoise. From what I understand it needs a combination of lighting so I was looking at the Zilla combo light fixture which is UVB and a heat emitter and a daylight bulb? Hoping that is okay? But, do I get the lighting to cover the entire closure that the tortoise lives in or should it only cover a portion of the enclosure so they can move in and out of the light? Please advise. I appreciate the assistance.
 

Madkins007

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It really does not matter that much. The tortoise will find the combination of warmth and light it wants. You do want to provide shade as well, so complete coverage is not even really the goal.

In the wild, no matter what habitat, tortoises do not spend much of their day in full sunlight, so while we want to make sure they have access to it, we also want to make sure they can hide and rest out of it as well.
 

littlesquirt

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Mark, thank you for the link to TortoiseLibrary. I didn't have a chance to check it out until now and it is awesome. You did an awesome job putting that together. It is a wealth of information and so helpful... thank you. Great site... I learned a ton...
 

jeremyjtaylor

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I was planning on providing mine a basking bulb (incandescent type) and a compact-fluorescent UVB bulb. Is this a good combination? Also, for nighttime heating, in addition to an under-tank heater, would I be better off with an infrared bulb or a ceramic heat emitter? And how much cooler should the area where the hide is located be? Should the hide be on the other end of the habitat from the night heat source(s) or nearer to them?
 

littlesquirt

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DSC04272.JPG DSC04270.JPG DSC04268.JPG DSC04267.JPG Have been working hard on outdoor pen and indoor enclosure. This is what I have come up with so far... Please help me out and make recommendations, suggestions... I am a newbie. Thank you Kate and Mark for all your help - you guys helped me be able to put this together. I have the coil heating under the substrate and then a MVB bulb and a regular basking buld and then a ceramic heater above i turn on in cold weather. The enclosure is 50" x 31". I have some real plants and some fake (cuz I kill plants always! no green thumb) The substrate is a mix of organic soil, sand and jungle moss from PetSmart. I have a Fluke thermometer/humidity gauge. The apple reptile store is out of the probe ones til august - ugh!! Here are my pix of outdoor and indoor!
Let me know how I can improve. And... he has been eating!! He loves bananas and tuna and sardines and mushrooms. I have broadened his diet - I thought he could only have fruits and veggies!! I tried bugs once and he never ate them!!
Thanks for all your help so far!!
 
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DixieParadise

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LS, nice job on your outside enclosure. That really adds to your landscaping... I really like this. Did you build your screen or is that a screen door cut in half?
 
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