Solarmeter 6.5

[TheTortoiseKing]

Hi! I was thinking of purchasing a solar meter 6.5. I was wondering what the solar meter should read for my Russian tortoise indoors and how I can check if its accurate. Thanks

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

@Tom or @Alex and the Redfoot can probably answer your questions.

 

[zovick]

Hi! I was thinking of purchasing a solar meter 6.5. I was wondering what the solar meter should read for my Russian tortoise indoors and how I can check if its accurate. Thanks

The Solarmeters are very well calibrated at the factory. For my baby Radiated and Star Tortoises, I used an average reading of 3.0 to 3.3 taken at tortoise height. For my adult Radiated and Star Tortoises, I used a reading of 5.0 to 5.5 also taken at tortoise height.

Note that I used the words "average reading". I said this because I used 48" fluorescent tubes and found that the readings under one end of a given tube were slightly different than the readings at the other end or the middle. IE, the bulbs give off different levels of UV depending upon exactly where under the bulb you take the reading.


If your Russian Tortoise is an adult, a reading of 4.0 to 5.0 is probably fine. For a baby, I would go for a 2.7 to 3.0.

 

[Tom]

Hi! I was thinking of purchasing a solar meter 6.5. I was wondering what the solar meter should read for my Russian tortoise indoors and how I can check if its accurate. Thanks

I agree with everything Zovick said. There are many ways to go about it and a wide margin of error.

I usually shoot for a UVI of 3-5 and I run that for a few hours mid day.

 

[TheTortoiseKing]

Ok thank yall