Lighting!!!

[JonathansHef]

Hi everyone,
My wife just bought me a Russian turtle named Hefner and I am looking for suggestions on what lighting should i get for his enclosure?! What lamps?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

This and that

 

[ZEROPILOT]

...But photos of your enclosure will help us get a better idea.

 

[Tom]

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a Russian or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species.
3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.

 

[JonathansHef]

...But photos of your enclosure will help us get a better idea.

 

[Tom]

A few things I see:

• That enclosure is too small for an adult Russian.
• Your substrate will need to be damp, and that wood will rot in short order.
• No red bulbs. Use a white incandescent flood bulb for day time basking.
• No need for night heat unless your house gets really cold.
• Use a HO type UV tube for UV and extra light indoors.
• That water bowl would be great for a snake or lizard, but totally unsuitable for a tortoise. Use a terra cotta plant saucer sunk into the substrate.

 

[JonathansHef]

Thank you for your help. The enclosure is 24x36, is that too small?

 

[TechnoCheese]

Thank you for your help. The enclosure is 24x36, is that too small?

Yes. It is recommended that Russians have a bare minimum of 8x4 feet. They may be small, but they roam literal miles, and require large walking spaces for digestion.

 

[JonathansHef]

Thank you! Any ideas on how i can make one or where i can purchase one that isnt too expensive?

 

[TechnoCheese]

Thank you! Any ideas on how i can make one or where i can purchase one that isnt too expensive?

This is a guide I put together a while ago for the reptile site I moderate. If you scroll down to the “enclosures” section, I have a few examples-

Tortoise Information Masterlist | Wiki | Reptiles Amino

Tortoises are a difficult species to care for, not because they’re fragile or insanely demanding, bu

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