Lighting my enclosure

[Catherine-Anne]

I have a Russian that I got on July 30. I have a heat lamp that stays on for about 12-14 hours per day, but that is the only lamp. I do not have a separate UVB bulb. Do I need to add additional lighting? Is the heat lamp enough? We don't go outside regularly.

 

[Yvonne G]

If a tortoise doesn't get UVB either from the sun or from a GOOD UVB light, his shell and bones will get soft and the tortoise will eventually die. Calcium needs to get vitamin d3 in order to work. Without it the calcium just gets excreted out in the pee. Vitamin d3 comes from UVB.

I like this bulb for heat AND UVB:

 

[Catherine-Anne]

Thanks. He is getting Calcium. I'm ordering the bulb now.