UV

[linderch]

Hi, I have a 6-7 month od sulcata and I just came across the best way to raise them post, so I'm implementing changes.
A few questions:
1. What is the proper UV strength (exposure number)?
2. is a basking bulb necessary for both heat AND light, or could it also be an infrared "night" heat source and have a separate LED strip for lighting (but not heat)? (Assuming the enclosure has its ambient heat at around 95 and 80% humidity is reached)

thanks!!

 

[Tom]

Hi, I have a 6-7 month od sulcata and I just came across the best way to raise them post, so I'm implementing changes.
A few questions:
1. What is the proper UV strength (exposure number)?
2. is a basking bulb necessary for both heat AND light, or could it also be an infrared "night" heat source and have a separate LED strip for lighting (but not heat)? (Assuming the enclosure has its ambient heat at around 95 and 80% humidity is reached)

thanks!!

Hello and welcome!

1. You don't need indoor UV in T.O. Make an outdoor enclosure and give the baby some sunshine once or twice a week wen the weather permits. They can go weeks with no UV in the winter if they get sun the rest of the year. Best to skip it. Use a calcium supplement with D3 a couple of times per week, and feed some Mazuri a couple of times per week too.

2. There are four elements to heating and lighting:

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. 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.
3. 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 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. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html Here in our climate, you shouldn't need indoor UV.

Basking bulb is necessary and it needs to produce white light and heat. It needs to be dark at night, so use a CHE or RHP connected to a thermostat for ambient heat. They do not need ambient temperatures of 95 degrees. High 80s or low 90s at the peak heat of the day, and 80 at night is just right. Basking area directly under the bulb should be 95-100 during the day, and no light at night. Never use infrared bulbs over tortoises.

 

[linderch]

Hello and welcome!

1. You don't need indoor UV in T.O. Make an outdoor enclosure and give the baby some sunshine once or twice a week wen the weather permits. They can go weeks with no UV in the winter if they get sun the rest of the year. Best to skip it. Use a calcium supplement with D3 a couple of times per week, and feed some Mazuri a couple of times per week too.

2. There are four elements to heating and lighting:

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. 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.
3. 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 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. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html Here in our climate, you shouldn't need indoor UV.

Basking bulb is necessary and it needs to produce white light and heat. It needs to be dark at night, so use a CHE or RHP connected to a thermostat for ambient heat. They do not need ambient temperatures of 95 degrees. High 80s or low 90s at the peak heat of the day, and 80 at night is just right. Basking area directly under the bulb should be 95-100 during the day, and no light at night. Never use infrared bulbs over tortoises.

Thanks Tom! You must be very close to us if you're using T.O. to say Thousand Oaks. Thanks for the advice. So, just to clarify, I did get an incandescent flood light for basking but just wanted to double check that the light element of that is a need of theirs while basking because I also have a CHE that is producing the same amount of heat, and was wondering if I could get away with using that for the basking spot if I added 5000-6000K led strips. If the light element is crucial to the basking area I'll keep the floods also. I appreciate the help!

 

[Tom]

Thanks Tom! You must be very close to us if you're using T.O. to say Thousand Oaks. Thanks for the advice. So, just to clarify, I did get an incandescent flood light for basking but just wanted to double check that the light element of that is a need of theirs while basking because I also have a CHE that is producing the same amount of heat, and was wondering if I could get away with using that for the basking spot if I added 5000-6000K led strips. If the light element is crucial to the basking area I'll keep the floods also. I appreciate the help!

I'm in SCV. I went to school in Moorpark a few years back and lived there for two years. I've got friends in Simi, Moorpark, Calabasis and T.O., and I also work out that way sometimes too. Great area.

Use the flood bulb for basking, and set the CHE on a thermostat to maintain ambient temps above 80 day and night, 24/7.