MVB for Tortoise House

misskatvb

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May 1, 2017
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Hello, I am new to this forum. :)

I currently have my 3 year old redfoot in a Zoo Med Tortoise House. We use a 100w basking bulb as well as UVB bulb, but I am curious about switching to a mercury vapor bulb, as I am tired of changing a dead bulb every month (which gets expensive).

My 2 questions are:

His enclosure is about 33cm (almost 13 inches) high. Would a 100w MVB be too much for him? I know 70w exists too, I am not sure which is more appropriate. I do have the option of hanging it higher than the enclosure as well with my setup.

How long typically does the UVB in these bulbs last? I've read it's hard to tell without a UVB meter, but I am curious as to whether anyone knows about this or has measured?
 

wellington

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Hello and Welcome I think you should upgrade the enclosure. One of those tortoise boxes are too small for a 3 year old RF. It's good for hatchling size maybe up to two years. They don't give enough room for proper muscle exercise or proper space for different heat zones and they don't hold in humidity which RF need. Also most RF owners use the tube type flourescent UVB as they are better for RF and a che or two for heat.
 

JoesMum

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A redfoot doesn't need a basking lamp so no MVB.

Your tort needs a fluorescent tube type UVB - 5.0 is plenty with this species - and a Ceramic Heat Emitter with a thermostat to maintain ambient heat 24/7
 

ZEROPILOT

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Welcome.
What @JoesMum and @wellington said.
Your Redfoot needs a lot more room and they dislike bright lights.
Purchase a strip florescent lamp and swap out the tube every 6-8 months. (for UBV)
Photos of the enclosure, tortoise, etc would also greatly help us to you.
Also, your location. Are you from an area of the world where you might be able to have your tortoise live outdoors for at least part of the year?
 

misskatvb

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Thanks everyone! I am appreciative of the advice. He is a cherryhead, so I have managed to keep him happy for the 3 years I have had him in his smaller enclosure, but am going to make a bigger one this summer. I have had him checked annually by a reptile vet since I adopted him and want the best for him!

So, my current set up has a basking bulb and a 5.0 UV- I was unaware that they dislike bright light! Poor guy has had one for 3 years. I will remove that. We have a CHE I use in the winter when it's colder in the house so I will replace it with that.

We live in Ontario, Canada, which allows me to give him access to the outdoors in summer (not possible year-round), but as we live in a fairly rural area, I am hesitant to keep him outside with any permanency in the summer, due to predators. I am able to give him outdoors time, but not frequently this year as I am on mat leave and home with a baby. Our long-term plan, hopefully this summer, is to build a secure outdoor enclosure I can put him in for several hours on nice days. We just moved here last summer and before that, for his first 2 years, he was outside frequently in our enclosed garden. Since we moved and I had the baby, I haven't had time to get him outside.

I would like to upgrade his enclosure this summer. Right now, he is in the living room but we have decided to let him have the home office downstairs as "his" room. I was thinking of using a 5-foot kiddie pool as his enclosure, while I get my husband to build a tortoise table. I do have some questions for you more experienced keepers as I think about this project:

-Using a tube-style UV light- Is it cheapest/ easiest to buy a standard fluorescent tube fixture and just put a UV light in it? The ones at the pet stores are expensive, also they have clear plastic over them- doesn't this prevent the UV from being properly emitted? I have an 18" fixture I used before, but I now understand the plastic might prevent proper UV transmission to my tort, so I am hesitant. Maybe I can remove the plastic?

- How would I maintain humidity properly with a more open enclosure? Currently, my tortoise house is lined with fish-safe pond liner. It helps, but I know the more open it is, the more I will have difficulty with maintaining proper humidity. More moss?

-I would like him to "free-roam" the room he will be in. Does anyone do this? I am wondering if I offer him access to water, if that would provide enough humidity for him while he is out, or if I should run a humidifier? Any ideas or people who do this and how they manage?

Here is his enclosure now. I am looking forward to giving him more room but need some advice on best way to do it! Thanks everyone!
 

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tortdad

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You need to back up and read the red foot care sheet and look through our examples of closed chambers.

We don't mean to jump on you because we want to help you understand how to properly care for your tortoise. That being said just about everything about your set up is wrong wrong wrong. The only good thing about it I can say is... I like the pond liner

You should never let your tortoise "free roam" in a room. These guys are hard wired to roam and try and eat everything they can to include dust bunnies, electrical cords, toe nail clipings and whatever else found it's way to the ground. The floor is drafty and unsafe, please build a good closed chamber and let your tort roam outside in a proper outdoor enclosure.

For a red foot your uvb should be theblong tube type florsent bulbs. For heat you should be using a CHE on a reptile thermostat. The encloser needs to be bigger and sealed up, even the lid... so it can hold humidity. There are lots and lots of homemade enclosures listed on this website. A hardware store is you're best friend. Your food and water dish need to go. Use a flat rock or a piece of tile for the food plate and a simple terra cotta plant saucer as the water dish.

Post some pics of your tortoise. I can barely see yours in the corner of that pic and from the little I can see it appears to be dry and starting to pyramid.

You got lots of things that need changing and the best way to start is to dig through the enclosure section and see what works best for you. Once we know the size and shape of it we can tell you the best lighting and heat set up for it. I wouldn't buy anymore lights and stuff until you come lost a pic of it here so we can tell you if they work well or not. Lots of reptile stuff isn't good for our torts and this website has lots of people with tons of trial and error. We've all been where you are now so we aim for you to fix your mistakes and quickly as possible so you have very little trial and error, let us help you learn from our mistakes.
 
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I have the same table as you do. To keep humidity high I installed a piece of plexiglass on the wire cutting out for the heat lamp I'll take pics and post them when I get home from work.
 
Joined
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Thanks everyone! I am appreciative of the advice. He is a cherryhead, so I have managed to keep him happy for the 3 years I have had him in his smaller enclosure, but am going to make a bigger one this summer. I have had him checked annually by a reptile vet since I adopted him and want the best for him!

So, my current set up has a basking bulb and a 5.0 UV- I was unaware that they dislike bright light! Poor guy has had one for 3 years. I will remove that. We have a CHE I use in the winter when it's colder in the house so I will replace it with that.

We live in Ontario, Canada, which allows me to give him access to the outdoors in summer (not possible year-round), but as we live in a fairly rural area, I am hesitant to keep him outside with any permanency in the summer, due to predators. I am able to give him outdoors time, but not frequently this year as I am on mat leave and home with a baby. Our long-term plan, hopefully this summer, is to build a secure outdoor enclosure I can put him in for several hours on nice days. We just moved here last summer and before that, for his first 2 years, he was outside frequently in our enclosed garden. Since we moved and I had the baby, I haven't had time to get him outside.

I would like to upgrade his enclosure this summer. Right now, he is in the living room but we have decided to let him have the home office downstairs as "his" room. I was thinking of using a 5-foot kiddie pool as his enclosure, while I get my husband to build a tortoise table. I do have some questions for you more experienced keepers as I think about this project:

-Using a tube-style UV light- Is it cheapest/ easiest to buy a standard fluorescent tube fixture and just put a UV light in it? The ones at the pet stores are expensive, also they have clear plastic over them- doesn't this prevent the UV from being properly emitted? I have an 18" fixture I used before, but I now understand the plastic might prevent proper UV transmission to my tort, so I am hesitant. Maybe I can remove the plastic?
A standard fluorescent fixture will work so long as the wattage is the same as the uv bulb
 

SarahChelonoidis

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I'm surprised - as a fellow Ontarian - you've gotten by with only using a CHE in the winter so far. I use radiant heat panels on thermostats as they're the only way I could keep my night temperatures high enough (I don't like my entire house to be 27C day and night, but footed tortoises do).

I recommend taking all of the advice you've been given to heart and redesigning a more red foot friendly space. Canadian tortoise husbandry in behind the times in many ways, and unfortunately many reptile vets don't know much about modern tortoise care.

Footed tortoises need big, humid, warm enclosures - day and night, all year long. Since our summers aren't all that long (maybe four good months of tortoise weather - assuming you have a heated night box), we need to have our indoor spaces meet all of their needs.

I prefer radiant heat panels for heat and T5 fluorescents for uvb, but other keepers make different choices. MVBs are generally too acutely hot and bright to meet the needs of these forest or forest-adjacent tortoises.
 
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