Temp questions

[sueb4653]

Tiny's shell is heating to 94-95 degrees under the basking light and then temp away from his shell is about 104-105 degrees should the light be lowered so he gets hotter? or is good the way it is. Night temp is mid 70's using a ceramic heater. Input please

 

[Tom]

I'd raise the bulb just a bit so that the basking rock directly under the bulb only gets to around 100. If your tortoise is bigger than a hatchling you need to measure the temp at tortoise carapace height. I use rocks or bricks for this. I set the brick directly under the lamp and leave it there for a couple hours. Then I use a temp gun to check the temp and raise or lower the bulb to get the right temp. Don't worry about the carapace temp too much. They will regulate their core temp on their own. You just don't want the overhead bulb to be so hot that it too quickly over heats their carapace and causes burns or excessive desiccation of the shell.

I think mid 70s at night is too cool for a baby sulcata. Fine for older, bigger ones though. I shoot for 80.