lighting help

[debbiebootrocks]

Hi bed to forum and ownership, barewith
We have hugo the hermann who is a year old and we have built bigger indoor enclosure and wanted advice on his lighting. At the no he has a dual arcadia one and and at the other end he has a Edo terra uv 10w lamp that was given to me. To me one end looks a little dark and is also cooler so I wanted to know should i get another dual bulb for the other end of just a brighter one, if so which and what wattage. A lot of info I know but don't want him too got or too cold or too dull. Enclosure is 2ft 4" by 4ft. A photo would help but I don't know how to add one.

[CherryBrandy]

welcome Debbie, 10w uv (lamp) wont be for a tortoise especially, it doesn't cover both uv's? and sounds complimentary to what you have which is the combined uv a and b arcadia one (do you know what wattage?). If want brighter one end I would use a normal light bulb at an appropriate height or if want a natural feel and effect then day glow lights are good as they give out a bit of warmth also. One end basking / uv / heat with the combined is enough if indoors and other end ok for cool down. tortoises should always be allowed to cool down at night also as there is a misconception they always need to be super warm to live. Hope your substrate is natural also and not wood chip etc as this can affect heat and air flow , light etc and of course tortoise can eat it and choke.
You need photobucket or similar to copy and then paste onto the forum ! there is a link how to do it also but it is copy the IMG on the external site and paste onto SW, good luck ! CB

[debbiebootrocks]

Thanks so much, my arcadia dual bulb is 100w. So does it not matter what wattage bulb I get for the darker end of his enclosure. The arcadia was sufficient on its own when the enclosure was smaller. The lights are on a timer and come on around 6.30 am and go off around 10pm, quite often hugo has settled down for the night before the lights go out. Hugo's substrate is made up of topsoil and playsand mix.

[CherryBrandy]

As long as you have the appropriate level of basking and UV A & B (must have both - not just A which some people think will suffice) then the other end is almost irrelevant when acting as a cool end. I have daylight UV A bulbs 60W which give a nice glow and states it provides a good type of light for a reptile , some warmth but again its a moot point as there is an area where the right levels are provided and then a cool end (with what just happens to be UVA in this case). Sometime I will have normal bulb, or a moonlight...hope that helps - we all have different designs so to recap - as long as there is right husbandry then should be ok ! lighting the other end is superfluous... and sometimes they don't like too much light as it reminds them of being vulnerable out in the open and will hide ! CB