What kind of lighting do I need for my tank?

[AshleyRenee]

Hello everyone!
I am a soon as to be Russian Tortiose owner. So I'm in the process of setting on my enclosure for my little guy and I was looking at lighting for it. Now I have read a lot of things on here but I am still a little curious, if I purchase a UVB light to put in a dome fixture do I still need a strip light for actual lighting in he tank or would just the natural light be sufficient enough for him?

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

The cfl UV lamps that can be used in dome fixtures can sometimes burn tortoise eyes and should not be used. They are also not an effective UV source anyway, so says my UV meter. Strip lights are fine, but you will have to pay attention to the mounting height depending on which bulb you get. If you can get your tortoise out for sunshine most of the year, then you won't need any indoor UV.

Give these a read through:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[AshleyRenee]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

The cfl UV lamps that can be used in dome fixtures can sometimes burn tortoise eyes and should not be used. They are also not an effective UV source anyway, so says my UV meter. Strip lights are fine, but you will have to pay attention to the mounting height depending on which bulb you get. If you can get your tortoise out for sunshine most of the year, then you won't need any indoor UV.

Give these a read through:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Much appreciated! Thank you

 

[AshleyRenee]

Oh wait also another quick question if the dome fixtures are not to be used what fixtures do you recommend to use?

 

[Tom]

Oh wait also another quick question if the dome fixtures are not to be used what fixtures do you recommend to use?

The dome fixtures are fine to use for incandescent basking bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or ceramic heating elements. Its just the cfl type florescent UV bulbs that should not be used. When selecting a fixture, get one with a wide dome and a ceramic/porcelain base. I prefer these:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Designers-Edge-10-1-2-in-Brooder-Lamp-with-Hang-Hook-0165/204667675

Here is a copy of a post I did for another member explaining lighting and heating options:

" Let me break down the heating and lighting thing. You need three or four elements:
1. Heat. During the day this is best accomplished with 65 watt flood bulbs from the hardware store set on digital timers. These also give some light. Move them higher or lower to get the basking temp under them correct. I buy them in 6 packs, so if they burn out I always have a spare on hand.
2. Light. Sometimes the basking bulb and ambient room light are enough. If not, use a tube style florescent strip light form the hardware store. Run it on the same timer as the heat lamps. Try to get a bulb in the 5000-6500K color range. The more common 2500K color range bulbs look yellowish.
3. Ambient temp maintenance and night heat. Tortoises need it dark at night, but still warm. This is best accomplished with the use of a CHE in a ceramic based fixture. Get the 11" ceramic based domes from Home Depot for all your heat lamps.
4. UV. Best to sun them for an hour two or more times a week. Its okay to skip a few weeks over winter and this will do no harm. Since you live in the frozen North (Okay, Midwest, but its a figure of speech…), you will need to provide some artificial UV. Several options for this:
a. Use a mercury vapor bulb, like the power sun for your basking bulb. Use this in the Home Depot fixture I mentioned, not in a small pet store dome or deep dome. Replace it every fall.
b. Use a long tube type 10.0 florescent bulb. These MUST be mounted no more than 10-12" from the tortoise to be effective.
c. Get an Arcadia 12% HO bulb from lightyourreptiles.com. These are great, but they make a lot of UV. Mount it at least 18" and as much as 26" away from the tortoise and put it on its own timer for only about 4 hours a day."

Please note that on number 3, you might not need night heat for a russian, if your house usually stays above 65ish most of the time. I typed this up for a new sulcata owner and those DO need night heat.


I hope it helps you too!

 

[AshleyRenee]

Perfect!!!! thank you so much!

 

[AshleyRenee]

Hey Tom!
So I purchased that Brooder lamp from Home Depot that you recommended for the basking bulb. So I put the Murcury Vapor Bulb that I purchased in it but for some reason the bulb gets so hot it has an automatic shut off switch and as soon as I turn the bulb on it stays on for a minute or so and the shut off switch shuts it off. Do you know what I can do to fix it? Do I need to get a different lamp? Ps this is the bulb that I have.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQDJK/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[Yvonne G]

Just leave it alone. It will come back on and stay on once it cools down. I have one that does that too, but most of them don't.

And we didn't say to not use the dome, what we don't like is the "deep dome, dual fixture"

 

[AshleyRenee]

Gotcha! I'll try that out to see if that works and if not I'll try a different lamp. Thanks so much Yvonne

 

[Tom]

Hey Tom!
So I purchased that Brooder lamp from Home Depot that you recommended for the basking bulb. So I put the Murcury Vapor Bulb that I purchased in it but for some reason the bulb gets so hot it has an automatic shut off switch and as soon as I turn the bulb on it stays on for a minute or so and the shut off switch shuts it off. Do you know what I can do to fix it? Do I need to get a different lamp? Ps this is the bulb that I have.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQDJK/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Sometimes these bulbs are temperamental. Just leave it plugged in and walk away for a while and see if it doesn't straighten itself out. They usually do. If not, you'll have to take it back for a different one.