Should I have two basking lights? Or one basking and one ambient

[DTNGUYEN0707]

I have a 7 feet by 3 feet closed chamber tortoise enclosure. I wanted to make sure my lighting and heating conditions are correct. Currently, I have two dual-domed heating lamps, and placed one on each side of the enclosure. Each lamp has a 100W basking bulb and a 100W CHE bulb attached. My daytime temp under the bulb is 101 degrees F, and my night temp under the bulb is 90. Am I supposed to keep one half of the tortoise enclosure cooler? This would mean I would have to swap out one basking bulb to a normal ambient light bulb.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

You want the basking area 95-100 so that is good. The rest of the tank should not go lower than 80. What's the temps away from the basking spot and what are the temps away from the che at night?

I have just one backing spot and use Che's for ambient temps. I use the LED strip lights all around for brightness.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

No need for two basking lights no, the basking spot you’ve achieved directly underneath the basking bulb sounds prefect during the day(make sure it’s an incandescent floodlight, not a spot bulb, they’re too harsh) they only need one basking spot, the other end can be 80-85, if all over ambient temp is 90, that might just be a smidge warm, I’d aim more for the 85 range, never going below 80 day or night anywhere. If that 90 reading is just directly under the che at night that’s fine so long as everywhere else is above 80

As you have duel dome fixtures, I’d keep the basking bulb one end with a regular led next to it. Then if you aren’t planning on giving them a few hours outdoors for uv, mount your t5 fluorescent bulb as near to it as possible.

Then more towards the middle I’d put a single wide dome with the CHE(I say the middle for more even heat distribution overnight) if the one CHE isn’t keeping night temps up enough, then I’d add another one the opposite end to the basking.

That’s how I’d try tackling it personally

Let me tag @Alex and the Redfoot and see what he thinks based on the fixtures you already have

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

No need for two basking lights no, the basking spot you’ve achieved directly underneath the basking bulb sounds prefect during the day(make sure it’s an incandescent floodlight, not a spot bulb, they’re too harsh) they only need one basking spot, the other end can be 80-85, if all over ambient temp is 90, that might just be a smidge warm, I’d aim more for the 85 range, never going below 80 day or night anywhere. If that 90 reading is just directly under the che at night that’s fine so long as everywhere else is above 80

As you have duel dome fixtures, I’d keep the basking bulb one end with a regular led next to it. Then if you aren’t planning on giving them a few hours outdoors for uv, mount your t5 fluorescent bulb as near to it as possible.

Then more towards the middle I’d put a single wide dome with the CHE(I say the middle for more even heat distribution overnight) if the one CHE isn’t keeping night temps up enough, then I’d add another one the opposite end to the basking.

That’s how I’d try tackling it personally

Let me tag @Alex and the Redfoot and see what he thinks based on the fixtures you already have

I would set things up the same way. The LED lamp in a double dome with basking lamp should be a really bright one (like Sansi grow light). Ambient LEDs should evenly light most of the enclosure, so bars/battens/strips work better for this.

 

[Tom]

I have a 7 feet by 3 feet closed chamber tortoise enclosure. I wanted to make sure my lighting and heating conditions are correct. Currently, I have two dual-domed heating lamps, and placed one on each side of the enclosure. Each lamp has a 100W basking bulb and a 100W CHE bulb attached. My daytime temp under the bulb is 101 degrees F, and my night temp under the bulb is 90. Am I supposed to keep one half of the tortoise enclosure cooler? This would mean I would have to swap out one basking bulb to a normal ambient light bulb.

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.htmlA 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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