UVB tube lighting

[erinlyndon]

Hi, its been a while since I've been on here. I've just got a few questions on the UVB tubes. At the moment i have the arcadia d3 MVB and its been nearly a year since i got it, Ive realised i need to change it because the UV rays have probably ran out or are near to running out. Im thinking about getting a tube as well as the MVB for the time being until i can get a ceramic heater or some other heater. The whole thing is quite confusing, im not sure which tube is right for my enclosure or if it is even the best source of uvb and uva. Any suggestions would be great, ill attach a pic of the enclosure if that helps.

 

[zovick]

Try reading this article to get some insights on UV lighting:

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you for the link. I've posted the article in our 'lighting' section.

 

[Tom]

The only way to know what your bulbs are doing in your enclosure is to put a meter under them and check. Everything else, even advice from people who are experienced with lighting is just guess work.

I prefer to use regular 65 watt incandescent flood bulbs for basking. The lower wattage is a little less desiccating to their carapace. I raise or lower these bulbs to get the correct basking temperature under them.

Then I use a regular florescent tube for lighting the enclosure all day. If you choose one in the 5000-6500K color range, it will look like well balanced "natural" light vs. the yellowish light that most bulbs throw off. You can run this on the same timer as your basking bulb, but I like to have this bulb come on about an hour after the basking bulb, and turn off about an hour before the basking bulb to somewhat simulate dawn and dusk.

Finally, for UV I like the Arcadia HO tubes. My preference is to run the 12% HO tubes on their own time from about 11am-3pm. This simulates the brighter sun and UV spike of mid day outside. This also makes your expensive tube last for years instead of months. These bulbs need to be mounted around 20 inches high above the tortoise because they make very strong UV.

Unless your house get super duper cold at night for some reason, you shouldn't need night heat for this species.

@Markw84 has been giving very good lighting advice lately. Its a subject that he has devoted much of his time to researching and learning about. Maybe he will have something to add to what I've shared above?

 

[erinlyndon]

The only way to know what your bulbs are doing in your enclosure is to put a meter under them and check. Everything else, even advice from people who are experienced with lighting is just guess work.

I prefer to use regular 65 watt incandescent flood bulbs for basking. The lower wattage is a little less desiccating to their carapace. I raise or lower these bulbs to get the correct basking temperature under them.

Then I use a regular florescent tube for lighting the enclosure all day. If you choose one in the 5000-6500K color range, it will look like well balanced "natural" light vs. the yellowish light that most bulbs throw off. You can run this on the same timer as your basking bulb, but I like to have this bulb come on about an hour after the basking bulb, and turn off about an hour before the basking bulb to somewhat simulate dawn and dusk.

Finally, for UV I like the Arcadia HO tubes. My preference is to run the 12% HO tubes on their own time from about 11am-3pm. This simulates the brighter sun and UV spike of mid day outside. This also makes your expensive tube last for years instead of months. These bulbs need to be mounted around 20 inches high above the tortoise because they make very strong UV.

Unless your house get super duper cold at night for some reason, you shouldn't need night heat for this species.

@Markw84 has been giving very good lighting advice lately. Its a subject that he has devoted much of his time to researching and learning about. Maybe he will have something to add to what I've shared above?

Thank you so much for replying, i think i'll try out the arcadia HO tubes.

 

[erinlyndon]

And some of the others you suggested

 

[erinlyndon]

Try reading this article to get some insights on UV lighting:

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/

Thank you