Mvb bulb too close?

[Ashliewood]

Is the light in the left too close? I just got it today in the mail and I didt realize how huge it was! Is it going to be too close to Mr. Turtle?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

It needs to hang straight down, not at an angle. It needs a bigger hood and it should be from 12 to 18 inches above the tortoise. It should tell you on the box exactly how far away to hang it... Why do you need 2 bulbs?

 

[Tom]

Maggie is right as usual. Those clamps always fail. You need to hang them from above and then adjust them up or down to get the right temp.

And please tell us that is not a coil bulb in the other fixture...

 

[dmarcus]

I agree, you need a bigger hood for the one on the left.

 

[Tnewton]

Id also go with a zoo med deep dome, the one you have is way!!! to small for a MVB

 

[Ashliewood]

No coil bulbs here I have two bc the pet store told me I would need both :-/ I don't use both.

 

[Tom]

Ahh... now we see the REAL problem.

Ashliewood, I recommend, for the health and well being of your tortoises, that you stop taking advice from pet store people. Sadly, very few of them know what they are talking about. I worked retail pet for 8 years and wholesale for one. The things I saw and heard sickened and saddened me regularly. The newbies here on our forum know more than most of the veteran pet store employees. Not trying to paint them all with the same brush. The are exceptions, they are just few and far between.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just to expand a little on what has already been said.

I'm assuming that the bulb on the left is a mercury vapor bulb (MVB)?

If that is so, then you don't need two bulbs for day time. You can get by with only the new bulb. Use your other fixture to house a night time heat source such as a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) or red/black light bulb.

 

[Ashliewood]

I don't use both ever.... I keep it there because my son always tries to play with it and I stopped taking their advise for sure! I will def get a bigger dome the
Light is as far from the tort as the instructions say which is 12 inches. I will also be working on a way to hang the light :-/

 

[EKLC]

Ahh... now we see the REAL problem.

Ashliewood, I recommend, for the health and well being of your tortoises, that you stop taking advice from pet store people. Sadly, very few of them know what they are talking about. I worked retail pet for 8 years and wholesale for one. The things I saw and heard sickened and saddened me regularly. The newbies here on our forum know more than most of the veteran pet store employees. Not trying to paint them all with the same brush. The are exceptions, they are just few and far between.

Local reptile shop has a one foot sulcata in a rubbermaid with no lighting. He's been there since a month ago. If he's still there in two weeks, I'll go raise some hell. I really hate thinking about the neglected torts and pets out there

 

[Tom]

I will def get a bigger dome the
Light is as far from the tort as the instructions say which is 12 inches. I will also be working on a way to hang the light :-/

The recommendations for lamp distance on the box are a good place to start, but every enclosure and situation is a little different. Use your temp gun and remote probed thermometer to verify and adjust your temps.