Lighting help for a baby Testudo Graeca

[t1ll1s]

Hallo all,
I just got a baby testudo graeca and since i am a newbie at raising tortoises i would like to request some advice.
My purchases are:
- Exo Terra terrarium 60x45x30. i know that humidity is important for tortoises and i can install some top glass panels if required after i get a few humidity readings from the sensors.

- Canopy that will cover half of the top area and has place for 3x26W lamps

- Reptile dome hanging fixture again from Exo Terra

- UVB bulb that is suitable for tortoises according to the Exo Terra table for a distance of 25-30cm and to be used in the canopy

- Daylight basking spotlight 50W delivering 32 degrees at 30cm (i am not sure if i can use this in the canopy or i need to install it to the dome and direct it downwards)

I am very confused on the lights that are required for my tortoise and am not sure if i chose the right bulbs and/or fixtures.
The temperature that i must keep at the ground level should be around 30-32 degrees Celsius and i will be adding some water on the substrate regularly to create humidity in the terrarium.

What would you suggest for me to do?
Shall i ditch the canopy and use only domes, or get a different fixture?
What bulbs do i need for UVB and UVA?
Shall i get a combined UVA/UVB bulb instead?
Any suggestions to make my terrarium lighting optimal for my little friend is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[zovick]

Hallo all,
I just got a baby testudo graeca and since i am a newbie at raising tortoises i would like to request some advice.
My purchases are:
- Exo Terra terrarium 60x45x30. i know that humidity is important for tortoises and i can install some top glass panels if required after i get a few humidity readings from the sensors.

- Canopy that will cover half of the top area and has place for 3x26W lamps

- Reptile dome hanging fixture again from Exo Terra

- UVB bulb that is suitable for tortoises according to the Exo Terra table for a distance of 25-30cm and to be used in the canopy

- Daylight basking spotlight 50W delivering 32 degrees at 30cm (i am not sure if i can use this in the canopy or i need to install it to the dome and direct it downwards) View attachment 351508

I am very confused on the lights that are required for my tortoise and am not sure if i chose the right bulbs and/or fixtures.
The temperature that i must keep at the ground level should be around 30-32 degrees Celsius and i will be adding some water on the substrate regularly to create humidity in the terrarium.

What would you suggest for me to do?
Shall i ditch the canopy and use only domes, or get a different fixture?
What bulbs do i need for UVB and UVA?
Shall i get a combined UVA/UVB bulb instead?
Any suggestions to make my terrarium lighting optimal for my little friend is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

For UV light, the coiled fluorescent bulbs and the combination bulbs are not good for tortoises. Those bulbs have damaged their eyes in many cases. The only bulbs which you should use for UV for your tortoise are the straight linear tubes such as a Reptisun 10.0 T5 or a similar Arcadia bulb.

 

[t1ll1s]

thank you for your reply.
so i guess i need to return the canopy and the spiral bulb and get this:

i saw that the 24 inch is 60cm and will fit on my terrarium.
will it be ok at a distance of 20cm 7-8 inches from the top of the soil for my tortoise?
zoomed uvb chart

as i saw these lamps are great for UVA and UVB but are not for heating/basking.
is the basking bulb that i already bought any good or should i also return that for something else?
i bought the exo terra 50W daylight basking lamp

 

[zovick]

thank you for your reply.
so i guess i need to return the canopy and the spiral bulb and get this:
View attachment 351517
i saw that the 24 inch is 60cm and will fit on my terrarium.
will it be ok at a distance of 20cm 7-8 inches from the top of the soil for my tortoise?
zoomed uvb chart

as i saw these lamps are great for UVA and UVB but are not for heating/basking.
is the basking bulb that i already bought any good or should i also return that for something else?
i bought the exo terra 50W daylight basking lamp
View attachment 351518

Yes, the fixture you showed above is OK and will be fine at 7-8 inches above the substrate. I would not place it much higher than that, though, because the light intensity will then be too low to be very helpful.

The basking bulb in your first post is probably OK, but I never noticed my baby tortoises using any basking spots under such bulbs, so I stopped using those bulbs 10 years ago. My babies "basked" directly under the T5 UV bulbs when they felt the need. Even though the T5 bulbs are fluorescent, they do give off some heat, and my babies used the area under those T5 bulbs more than the basking bulbs.

 

[Tom]

thank you for your reply.
so i guess i need to return the canopy and the spiral bulb and get this:
View attachment 351517
i saw that the 24 inch is 60cm and will fit on my terrarium.
will it be ok at a distance of 20cm 7-8 inches from the top of the soil for my tortoise?
zoomed uvb chart

as i saw these lamps are great for UVA and UVB but are not for heating/basking.
is the basking bulb that i already bought any good or should i also return that for something else?
i bought the exo terra 50W daylight basking lamp
View attachment 351518

Most of the care info found online and from pet shops is all wrong. Its the same wrong info that has been repeated for years. Here is the my lighting info breakdown:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

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.

Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

7-8 inches would be okay for a regular 10.0 UV tube, but I think that is too close for an "HO T5" tube. A UV meter like the Solarmeter 6.5 is the only way to know for sure how much UV is reaching the tortoise.