Lights vs. Sun questions

[newCH]

Hello,
My little Sheldon, a 2 oz cherryhead, has an outdoor enclosure that he visits several
hours a week when I am home and weather permitting. We live in So.FL so our afternoons
at this time of the year can be in the uppers 70's low 80's at times.

Every morning I turn on Sheldon's lights at 5 am. His little head pops up from where he decides to have burrowed into the substrate for the night & he seems to
warm up a bit and then goes to view what is on the menu for the morning. He eats & drinks well, no worries. I turn off his lights 4:30-5:00 pm.

So, when hes older and he has the sun as his lighting, where he will actually
experience sunrise and sunset, will his warm up period take longer before he eats ?

And then when he is getting indoor lighting, since it is instant on and off with the power
switch, is he getting more light than he would if he was outdoors ?

Am i over thinking this or will his schedule change when he eventually lives
outdoors ?
Thanks

 

[lismar79]

Overthinking he may bask more in the afternoon when the sun is hottest but he will still likely wake up with the sun. At least this is what mine do.

 

[Anyfoot]

Good question newCH, Something i've been thinking of too. My lights are on a timer, I was wondering if anyone out there has there lights set on dimmers, so they gradually get brighter and dimmer, like sunrise and sunset. Or like you said am I thinking way too deep. Taking it a step further could I have my lights set on dimmers that work from senses off the actual sunset and sunrise .

 

[keepergale]

My enclosure lighting is on timers. Currently they are on 30 minutes before sunrise as I keep my tortoises on a 12 hour day year round. The tortoises are up and active as the lights pop on. Later in the year with longer days they get somewhat more natural lighting as their room does have windows for natural lighting.
I can't see that it effects them one way or another.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just a note - if you're using a Mercury Vapor Bulb for UVB, light and heat, you can't put it on a dimmer. Even if it would work, it's not good for the light.

 

[Anyfoot]

Just a note - if you're using a Mercury Vapor Bulb for UVB, light and heat, you can't put it on a dimmer. Even if it would work, it's not good for the light.

Ok, thanks Yvonne, To make it work you would have to incorporate another set of lights that came on with dimmer then the mercury lights to come.
Gets too messy.

 

[Yvonne G]

I really like the idea of only turning on the MVB for a couple hours during the middle of the day, but I would need another fixture for the regular 100 watt bulb that would be heating up the place. So the timer would turn on the 'sun' or 100 watt bulb at 6a, then about 11a another timer would turn on a MVB, which would turn off in two hours, then the 100 watt bulb would turn off around 7p. Or maybe the 100 watt would turn off during the MVB time so the habitat didn't get too hot. It gives me a brain cramp. I think I'll just muddle along like I am.

To get back on track with this thread, when the tortoise goes outside to live, the sun, naturally, dictates his activity. My RF tortoises come out in the a.m. when the sun shines on their doorway. They just sit there, soaking it up for about an hour, then they go looking for their food. After they've eaten, they usually disappear back into their house until later in the day.

 

[newCH]

Thanks for your replies, that helped !