Proper Lighting question

[kyletran]

Hi,

I have three enclosures, and my question are what is the best lighting I should get for each one.

First one, I have a 1 year old radiated tortoise living in a plastic container about 20" high. What type of lighting should I use. Currently I have a Zone 2, 6% - UVI 2.0 that is 23W for that enclosure. Is this enough?

Second, 2 year radiated that lives in a black 48 x 24 x 24 enclosure. The fixture fits a T5, but what type light should I get for this guy.

3rd, 6 year old Burmese it's 5ft x 2ft x 2 ft. Same thing it's T5, but what's the best lighting I should use for this guy.

Thank you,

Kyle

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Why kind of Burmese? Star or mountain tortoise?

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
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. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

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