Lighting / Heating Help - Hermann UK
 

Hi All,

My first post here!

I've been researching Tortoise for months as we are planning on getting a Hermann soon. I want to make sure we have everything we need in advance & know what we are doing.

I'm still struggling with heating/lighting & even after thinking I had it all sussed, I'm now having second thoughts!

If anyone is able to offer the thoughts on the following options so as to help me make my final decision that would be great!

1. Combined MVB
Pros:

• Takes up less space, looks better?
• Easy to maintain
• Only one thing to replace, may work out cheaper long term?
• Photo gradient is same for both heat & light

Cons:

• Less flexibility
• As they are concentrated, if they are moved away to suit heat, parts of the enclosure may not get enough UV & ff moved to suit UV, they can be too hot.
• May be too concentrated for young tortoise.
• Cannot be controlled by thermostat. Have to move up & down.
• MVB are designed for 4-7 hours a day max
• More likely to have cold/dark areas in larger table

2. As MVB as above + Tube Heater/Thermotube for night (to ensure temperature doesn't drop below 15C over night in winter etc)

3. Separate UV (Arcada UV Flood 55cm) & Basking Bulb
Pros:

• UV & Heat can be controlled separately (position, height, temperature, light/heat period)
• Less likely to burn animal.
• More flexible – we can change our mind on basking bulb, without changing uv bulb etc
• Better coverage (less unwanted cold/shade areas)
• Heat can be stat controlled

Cons:

• Takes up more space
• More expensive

4. Separate UV (Arcada UV Flood 55cm) & Basking Bulb + Tube Heater/Thermotube for night

5. Separate UV (Arcada UV Flood 55cm) & Arcadia Deep Heat Projector IR Bulb
Pros:

• All as 3 above +
• IR heat better/more natural
• Can also use IR bulb at night as it is dark (may not need any extra heating in 2/4 above)

Cons:

• Lack of white light in basking area - maybe doesn't even matter as we have UV?

6. Seperate UV (Arcada UV Flood 55cm) & Standard Bulb & Deep Heat IR
Pros

• as per 5 above +
• Ultimate flexibility – we can use them all at once, or alternate, or use IR at night only etc.
• Have standard natural white light + the IR light – we don't have to choose between them

Cons:

• Takes up even more space

Crikey ! some food for thought - welcome shellyshelly - any design can accommodate as long as make sure its fit for purpose so probably down to personal choice, location, space and funding.

I bought a tube set up but opted for arcadia combined as mega easy and very mobile. ! job done ! CB

Thanks, which light was that, i've not seen a combined tube?

Welcome to the forum.

there wont be a combine tube as tubes can not create the hotspots -therefore wont ever be a basking light - happy to be corrected !

bulbs can do both , basking, UVA&B or separate basking / UVA . Need the B though :?:shock::neutral::(:roll::):-D:???::-|:cry:

Clear as mud ! ask away if not sure as it can be confusing to new TK's.

Ok, I've now got my lighting/heating & stat & have temporarily set them up for testing.

I've seen various suggested basking temps:
-some suggest 35-37°C
-other suggest lower temp of 32°C.

eg:
http://www.hermann-tortoise.co.uk/fo...showtopic=6538
http://www.tortoisecentre.co.uk/Tortoise care.aspx

As a test, I've set up the heat lamp above some slate & have the probe from the stat nearby. aiming my ir gun directly under the lamp it reads 34.5, but the stat is giving me a temp of only 24.8.

I think this is due to the difference in air temp & surface temp and that the suggested basking temp is a surface temp (eg ir gun measurement)?

So I need to work out how to calibrate the stat (eg I want to set it so that its target temp achieves the basking temp when checking with the ir gun).

Ok, so i've got lighting, heating & a thermostat and have been testing.

However, i'm confused over ideal basking temps:
-Some suggest 35-37°C
-Others suggest a lower temp of 32°C

Also, I tested the light above some slate & with the probe from the stat nearby. Aiming my ir gun directly under the lamp it reads 34.5, but the stat is giving me a temp of only 24.8.

I think this is due to the difference in air temp & surface temp and that for basking it is the surface temp I should be looking at (eg meausred by IR gun)?

So I need to work out how to calibrate the stat (eg set the stat target temp so as to achieve the target temp when measured with the IR gun).

Hi there. 32c is in my opinion right. If its higher the tortoise will normally move away from the hotspot. By raising the lamp you can warm a larger area. The ambient temperature does need to be adequate but I find anything over 20c is a waste.

The digestive and other systems are running well when a hermann can get itself up to 32c which is what we're aiming to achieve. Heating the substrate or the air to 32 will enable the tortoise to do this, but is not the actual goal. If you are using an infra red thermometer that's ideal because you can take the temp of the animal when its in basking mode. If your setup allows the tortoise to choose to get itself up to 32c then that's good.

Personally I don't put a slate directly under a lamp because it can get incredibly hot. A tortoise won't usually burn itself on a hot slate but it just might.

I'd say that a thermostat itself is often not accurate when used as a thermometer.

BTW what set-up did you go for Shelley?

Hope this helps a bit!

Thanks, thats helpful to know.

I went with seperate T5 tube & basking lamp.