Setting up my lighting

[The_TurtleArkangel_Raph]

Hello, hope everyone is doing well. I am trying to set up lighting for my enclosure prior to getting a tortoise. I have a 55 gallon enclosure for one Herman’s tortoise. Actually I am in the process of getting all I will need for the enclosure.

My questions are these:
1. How many light should I get? Should I get one long UVB 10.0 Bulb and place it long ways? Should I get two basking lights? Or should I get one or two combo light fixtures?

2. How long should the lights be on for? I watched Garden state tortoise and he said mimics the wild. So UVB bulb early morning, basking light mid/late day, and then just UVB bulb until it’s bedtime to simulate night.

3. Does anyone have any suggestions for lights? Decently priced. Not big balling here but also not super broke haha.

4. Lastly how do I set up a digital thermometer for the enclosure? I found some that go on the outside of the enclosure and read the temp. Is there a better way? This is going to be two 110 qt sterlite containers fused together. First set up until I get a tortoise box.

Thank you all. This is going to be for a Herman hatchling.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello!

I’ll warn that glass tanks aren’t necessarily the best set ups for a tortoise, for start the top being mesh isn’t ideal, it’ll mean you need to fashion some kind of topper to make it a closed chamber.

I think you’ll find this housing thread I made useful! It answers your questions, it covers correct equipment(lighting, heating, uv, there’s no avoiding the expense of the uv as it has to be the right type and a reliable brand), levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger torts, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! Vivs can work great too though!

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes some more closed chamber options

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying. Whilst garden state tortoise isn’t the worst place of information, they recommend lots of questionable things that are known to cause issues.

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

With the uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramics(if needed) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, that will all make more sense once you read through the links

I hope they help! Please come back with further questions once you've given them a look through! Welcome to the forum

 

[The_TurtleArkangel_Raph]

Hello!

I’ll warn that glass tanks aren’t necessarily the best set ups for a tortoise, for start the top being mesh isn’t ideal, it’ll mean you need to fashion some kind of topper to make it a closed chamber.

I think you’ll find this housing thread I made useful! It answers your questions, it covers correct equipment(lighting, heating, uv, there’s no avoiding the expense of the uv as it has to be the right type and a reliable brand), levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger torts, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! Vivs can work great too though!

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes some more closed chamber options

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying. Whilst garden state tortoise isn’t the worst place of information, they recommend lots of questionable things that are known to cause issues.

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

With the uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramics(if needed) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, that will all make more sense once you read through the links

I hope they help! Please come back with further questions once you've given them a look through! Welcome to the forum

Thank you for the information. It’s not a glass enclosure, it’s a plastic storage container. Two that I am going to meld together to give me a 55 gallon enclosure. I plan to meld the tops together.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
You can find detailed heating/lightning setup here: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/ (search for the word Breakdown).

Long story short:
1. Basking lamp - flood incandescent (Arcadia Solar Basking Floodlight, Fluker Basking Lamp, ExoTerra Daylight Basking Spot). Something with wide beam and frosted glass. You can start with a 50W lamp. Set it on timer 12-13 hours a day.

2. T5 tube for UVB - Arcadia ProT5 24W, ZooMed Reptisun. Or ExoTerra T5 (not T8) UVB lamp. Don't get cheap chinese lamps. Take the shortest option and mount it close to the basking lamp so heat and UVB are provided over the same area. UVB percentage (Desert 12%/Forest 6%, 5.0/10.0) depends on enclosure height - for 12%/10.0 lamps you will need a distance about 18-20" above substrate. Set it on 4 hour timer around midday.

3. Ambient LEDs (bulb or bar) for overall brightness - 12 hours a day.

4. Ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat to keep lowest ambient temperature over 75F (if your room gets colder than that).

5. Any digital thermometer is fine. Those with an external probe can be more flexible to place but I don't like extra wires hanging around.