Low profile lighting

[Soozldoozl]

What is the best option for low profile lighting? My baby is 9 months old. Do they need an actual basking lamp or just heat? Right now I’m using a Powersun bulb for basking, and a che for ambient temperatures.

 

[Tom]

What is the best option for low profile lighting? My baby is 9 months old. Do they need an actual basking lamp or just heat? Right now I’m using a Powersun bulb for basking, and a che for ambient temperatures.

Hello and welcome.

I'm confused by your question. Why do you need low profile lighting when the lighting you are using now is just regular reptile lighting?

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 and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them.
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.
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.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside 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.

 

[Soozldoozl]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was wondering if there’s something that takes up less space on top of the habitat. Thank you for your input. I’ve learned more from you and this site than I had from any of the research I did before getting my baby.

 

[Tom]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was wondering if there’s something that takes up less space on top of the habitat. Thank you for your input. I’ve learned more from you and this site than I had from any of the research I did before getting my baby.

Ahh... Yes. LEDs for light, RHPs for ambient heat, and T-5 HO fluorescent tubes for light and UV are all pretty low profile. But you'll still need a basking lamp...

Here is all the sulcata info in one place, incase you have seen these yet:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Soozldoozl]

Thank you, Tom.