Hi... just got my first baby sully and am learning as i go. The pet store provided me w/ a coil uvb bulb which I returned per everyones advice here. I have purchased a reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube bulb / fixture, but i am not sure if i need it? since I live in south Florida and plan to be outside often. I only have a 40 gallon enclosure right now, so I do not have too much of a cool side during the day when the 100w basking light is on. Does the reptisun uvb bulb produce heat? can you have too much uvb light ? Thanks!!
reptisun uvb vs. Florida sun
- Thread starter Chris12
- Start date
Those bulbs don't produce much heat at all. You don't "need" it if your tortoise is getting sunshine, but it won't hurt anything and it is still good to have the whole enclosure nice and bright in the day time.
Thanks Tom. Once I add the the uvb, would it make any sense to add a CHE to replace my current dual light which has the basking bulb and moonlite bulb? can the CHE provide direct heat on my basking rock like the basking bulb? should I consider the powersun mercury bulb set up instead.. thanks.. just trying to figure all of this out
You need all of this. Here is a response I typed up for another member:
"Let me break down the heating and lighting thing. You need three or four elements:
1. Heat. During the day this is best accomplished with 65 watt flood bulbs from the hardware store set on digital timers. These also give some light. Move them higher or lower to get the basking temp under them correct. I buy them in 6 packs, so if they burn out I always have a spare on hand.
2. Light. Sometimes the basking bulb and ambient room light are enough. If not, use a tube style florescent strip light form the hardware store. Run it on the same timer as the heat lamps. Try to get a bulb in the 5000-6500K color range. The more common 2500K color range bulbs look yellowish.
3. Ambient temp maintenance and night heat. Tortoises need it dark at night, but still warm. This is best accomplished with the use of a CHE in a ceramic based fixture. Get the 11" ceramic based domes from Home Depot for all your heat lamps.
4. UV. Best to sun them for an hour two or more times a week. Its okay to skip a few weeks over winter and this will do no harm. Since you live in the frozen North (Okay, Midwest, but its a figure of speech…), you will need to provide some artificial UV. Several options for this:
a. Use a mercury vapor bulb, like the power sun for your basking bulb. Use this in the Home Depot fixture I mentioned, not in a small pet store dome or deep dome. Replace it every fall.
b. Use a long tube type 10.0 florescent bulb. These MUST be mounted no more than 10-12" from the tortoise to be effective.
c. Get an Arcadia 12% HO bulb from lightyourreptiles.com. These are great, but they make a lot of UV. Mount it at least 18" and as much as 26" away from the tortoise and put it on its own timer for only about 4 hours a day."
Hi Chris and welcome to TFO. You are lucky to live in a close mate where once the baby grows she/he'll be able to live full time. I have RF babies and keep them in closed chamber for now, but it next Spring they'll have parts of their outdoor enclosure done and will start spending few nor outside. I'm in Texas so most of the year here is mild. While indoors keep in mind that your house is air conditioned (cool/dry) and your baby needs warmth and humidity to grow healthy. You have already communicated with Tom, he knows all there is to know on sulcata species so pick his brain when in need of ideas. There are so many experienced great tort keepers here. Just ask questions, keep posting, include pictures. We're happy to have you, again, welcome!
I have finished the build of my new 5' x 2' indoor enclosure. I could use some advice on my light / heat setup. Per Tom's advice: I have 2 11" HD ceramic domes- 1 for my 100 watt CHE and one for my 65 watt flood. I will also be using a tube light for UV.
As for placement, I was thinking about hanging the flood / basking light at one end, the CHE at the other end, and the UV in the middle close to the back wall. Does this sound like the right approach?
Also, should I get a 18", 24" or 30" tube fixture for the UV?
I would appreciate any advice or pics of your setups!!
Thanks
I would put the heat lamp on one end and the CHE near the middle, so it keeps ambient and night temps up all over the whole enclosure.
In a 5' long enclosure, you should get a 48" florescent tube. I'd mount it near the middle.
In a 5' long enclosure, you should get a 48" florescent tube. I'd mount it near the middle.
