UVB Lighting

[Burgesj]

What is the best uvb lighting and wattage for a sulcata? It will be sitting on top of a screen about 12 inches from my tort.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

What is the best uvb lighting and wattage for a sulcata? It will be sitting on top of a screen about 12 inches from my tort.

A T5 HO strip uvb
And at that distance a 5.0 should be alright.

 

[Tom]

What is the best uvb lighting and wattage for a sulcata? It will be sitting on top of a screen about 12 inches from my tort.

Where is Riverview? Best to not use indoor UV if you don't need it. If you need it, the Arcadia 12% HO bulbs are my preference, and mounting height will need to be set with a UV meter. Usually around 18-20 inches, but through a screen makes this nothing more than a guess.

UV tubes should not go through a screen, and screen tops shouldn't be used for a baby sulcata. They need a closed chamber to hold in the correct heat and humidity.

This will help you:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Rocco's family]

A T5 HO strip uvb
And at that distance a 5.0 should be alright.View attachment 316780

We adopted a sulcata a while ago, knowing nothing about reptiles. We have kept him outdoors during the day when it's warm and sunny and inside during bad weather and at night, but at 33 pounds he is outgrowing the biggest tub we can find and I think it's time for him to have an outdoor shelter. For his indoor light we just bought an all in one recommended by a pet store, which now looking at these threads seems like was a bad choice. Thankfully we live in a place that is usually warm and sunny.

My question is what kind of lighting and heat do we need for a home? My dad is a carpenter and will build us an insulated home for him- I'm guessing it will end up being around 4 feet high and maybe 4x6 l/w. Will the light shown above work for his UVB? Do we need a separate heat lamp? And do they need UVA? I also ordered a pig blanket based on something I read- is there anything I should know about where to place these things (ie. should the heat lamp be above the pig blanket, or is that too much heat in one spot?).

I'm sorry for the barrage of questions! I want to make sure to do the right thing for Rocco!