Mucking about with "daylight hours" in indoor enclosure?

[October]

So, we're coming up on Summer Solstice and here in AZ that means that daylight lasts about 14.5 hours a day in my part of the world.

Most everything I read says that torts need 12 hours of "daylight". Is there any reason to follow true daylight hours? Has anyone ever tried it? Since sulcatas don't hibernate I'd imagine it doesn't make much difference but it was a random thought I had.

Needless to say I do not rise with the sun, thankfully, but just picked up a timer for the basking light.

 

[Tom]

I match my lights to the sun. I have them come on shortly after sun up and go off shortly before sun down. This way they get the natural dawn and dusk, through the windows.

 

[ascott]

I agree with Tom. In my opinion it is better to let them take advantage of the sun...when they have enough, they can slip into their hide .

 

[jaizei]

I've got mine similar to Tom's, lights come on about an hour after sunrise and go off an hour before sunset.

 

[chairman]

I adjust daylight hours to account for my long-term schedule and my animals' needs. For example, I feed my tortoises weekday mornings around 6:15 am or so. My sulcata's basking light comes on around 5:45 to give her a chance to wake up and bask for a couple minutes so she's ready and eager to eat as soon as the food hits the floor. My hingebacks are most active at dawn/dusk so their daylight schedule is closer to reality because they're already up and eager to eat in the mornings when I get to them. Conversely I have a savannah monitor that gets fed around 6:00 pm every night. His lights don't turn on until 10:30 am because he needed the lights on longer into the night in order for him to properly digest his food. (I would shift his daylight hours earlier too if he didn't require special attention to remain handleable.)

So, IMO sticking with a natural lighting scheme would be the most convenient (especially in rooms with ambient lighting from windows), but it is okay to adjust to meet your animals' needs.