What's the difference between a desert light and a tropical light?

[mostchou]

Hi guys! I'm still in the process of setting up my enclosure. I was wondering what's the difference between a desert basking light and a tropical one. Do they keep different humidity levels in the enclosure? Also, I have read Chris's article about keeping Hermann's. He mentioned that the humidity should be at about 70%. Does that mean Hermann's actually needs the tropical basking light? Thanks!

 

[Tom]

These are marketing terms. They don't really mean anything. They just want you to buy their stuff.

You don't need those bulbs from the pet store. Regular bulbs from the hardware store work very well for basking. For UV, be sure you don't get a cfl type bulb as those sometimes burn tortoise eyes.

In addition to Chris's thread, read these. Russian and hermanns have similar requirements.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[mostchou]

These are marketing terms. They don't really mean anything. They just want you to buy their stuff.

You don't need those bulbs from the pet store. Regular bulbs from the hardware store work very well for basking. For UV, be sure you don't get a cfl type bulb as those sometimes burn tortoise eyes.

In addition to Chris's thread, read these. Russian and hermanns have similar requirements.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Thanks! May I ask which uv light do you currently use or do you have any recommendation?

 

[Tom]

Thanks! May I ask which uv light do you currently use or do you have any recommendation?

I use different ones for different purposes. In my large closed chambers I use Arcadia 12% HO bulbs in a reflector hood. These are very strong bulbs, so I can use them from farther away, and I only run them for about 4 hours mid-day. I use 10.0 tubes in other areas, and I like mercury vapor bulbs for open topped enclosures with Testudo or Gopherus species.

 

[Yvonne G]

I like to use a mercury vapor bulb (MVB) because it has heat and UVB both in the same bulb:

Another choice is the tube type UVB bulb, but if you use this you also have to have another light for heat:

If you like the tube type bulb, you can use a Ceramic Heat Emitter along with it to provide heat. You can also use the CHE at night for heat without light:

 

[mostchou]

Thanks you cool people!

 

[Markw84]

The manufacturers use these terms to normally differentiate between the 5.0 and 10.0 bulbs. That means the tropical or forest bulb is a 5.0 bulb which is a bright light spectrum with 5% of the total light emitted coming from the UVB spectrum. Their marketing idea is that is more like the forest and tropical exposure a reptile would get in more broken, partially shaded areas. The Desert is 10.0 which is the same spectrum EXCEPT 10% of the total light is in the UVB spectrum. The idea of producing a more intense UV like in the open sun of a desert environment. Really desert vs tropical is meaningless - just the desert produces more UVB proportionately so depends upon the application in your enclosure, not tropical or desert.

Like Tom said, just marketing hype, and some manufacturers just list the 5.0 or 10.0 and now, 12.0.