Arcadia d3 100w basking bulb
 

Can people who use one of these bulb please just give me some insight on how high they have there bulbs please mine at the mo is 12 inches away from my torts shell and he does nt go near it is this maybe too close or not hot enough

Can you tell us the age and size of your tortoise, the reason I ask this is that I have found for very young small tortoises, these bulbs are too hot. For my babies I use a separate basking spot and uv strip. My basking build is an ordinary household halogen bulb. I use the combined Arcadia bulb for my adult torts.

I'm not sure on his age but his shell is 5 inches in length and iv ad him3 years everythi fused to be fine till I made his enclosure bigger now nothing seems to goin right

Hi laura, I can say that I have my 100w D£ at 10 inches and it has temps of 27 - 29 and little ones are placed underneath if they don't come out. they are 4 months old - they rest are 80 W and that's slightly higer as more heat. Jonathan had a good diagram of surface coverage because if tort table is thin in length then the temps can also build up, bouncing off the sides, bit like sun trap in the garden. I would say 12 inches would be about ok for your tort but aim for temps rather than height so if sides are retaining heat then perhaps go higher but all sounds ok from what you describe, CB

I'm wondering cherry brandy if that's my problem my enclosure is a box which is has sides 17 inches high so I'm wondering if the heat is bouncing of the sides and keepin heat in coz at the mo iv just temped under the bulb wi temp gun and it's 36c again it starts off at 32/33 under it but as the day goes on it gets hotter at the mo it's 15.1/4 inch away fromsubstrate

probably ...if too high though it may not provide sufficient uv A / B. Can you think about a lower or wider table? didn't you say near window also ...id keep curtains drawn, it would be good to see some pickies if can CB

Well iv got a t8 florescent tube across the middle for uvb this bulb is just for basking really it's the only high wattage bulb iv got now iv took of the Perspex top I can't load pics up it's not working my box it's 4 ft x 5ft so it's not really narrow

I think it may be ambient Laura, as in the room heat adds to it possibly. At that height it should be fine. if measuring on slate for instance then temps will soar also as it absorbs heat and doesn't reflect that much. with the T8 is probably ok UV wise anyway so if too hot then manage it by turning off until you can sort it out longer term. I think the thread started with tortoise hiding a lot but you may have your answer with too much heat as they will sleep a lot of course. The window placement will have a bearing also so if can make sure he has lots of cover to hide under. only other thoughts is to have a lesser UV A watts bulb and keep the UV A&B on the tube , CB

Thank u so much iv just took him out to bath him he's drank iv found pooin thehide box but he's only ad 3 mouth full of food and now back in his hide again I don't no what to do the temp under the bulb now on the slate is 35.6 so Otho k the bulbmay need to go up more whatdo u think

That's why I think, a halogen bulb and uv strip are better in a small set up.