Using one lamp for two enclosure setup.

[Mao Senpai]

Well I've been wondering this for a while. Basically I have two enclosures... one for my Leopards and one for my Greeks right next to each other. So my question would be, what if you use one lamp for both enclosures? Say splitting it down the middle. From what I can observe the temperatures for those areas are still getting plenty warm and if I can recall correctly the sides of the bulb have the strongest uvb. Just curious if this is a bad idea or not to attempt.

 

[ticothetort2]

Not sure, you will probably just have to monitor the temps throughout the enclosures and see how it goes. Let us know, good way to save some money if you can.

 

[jaizei]

I've thought of the same thing, but I'd be somewhat concerned about risk of fire from the bulb being so close to the partition.

 

[GBtortoises]

I do exactly what you're planning too all the time for my hatchling set ups. I've never seen any problems whatsoever.

 

[Mao Senpai]

That is good to know since it would save me a great deal of money... not to mention not heat up my house terribly since it is pretty hot down here!

 

[Jacob]

Only Time Can Tell, Just Monitor the Temps and How Your Tortoises Are Acting

 

[Yvonne G]

I have one of those lamp stands...I think Zoo Med put it out. I hang a 100watt powersun on the stand. I have two plastic Sterilite bins side-by-side, touching each other, and the stand is in between them so that the light shines into both the bins. I put a small piece of aluminum foil over the edge where the light shines down, just to keep it from melting the bins. There is a hot spot in each bin directly under the light. This has worked for me for over a year, with baby box turtles on one side and dog-chewed box turtle on the other.

 

[Mao Senpai]

Yay! I'm glad I'm not the only that does this. I did it back when I was in CT.... with my leopards being in the plastic bin and yeah part of it melted but it was the very first two inches of the top so no big deal. Now I made them both wooden ones with good amount of space so they should be happy. They are acting fine.... happy active and nosy! Basking eating and all. That and they are growing and are fairly smooth~ I must say they love the weather down here.... hot and humid days and cooler nights hehe Maybe one day I'll make a small box to take them outside... hopefully my neighbors don't think I am crazy sitting outside with 5 tortoise next to me

 

[Baoh]

I have done something similar before when I was living in an apartment. I put a piece of mylar at the common partition just in case. It was a functional solution for me.