Night and Day Thermostat

[PhilBen]

Hi I have just bought a night and day thermostat for the winter. I seen this one. It turned up today the quality seems very good. I thought i would buy it as its only £12.99. Well worth a look at?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295489334433 ... media=COPY

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[Nina]

That looks like a nice little gadget, Phil. I used to use a Habistat thermostat for my torts when I lived in a very cold house, but haven't needed one in the new place, and my torts hibernate from early December to the beginning of March, so I don't have too many problems. If you are keeping your jtorts awake in the winter though, a thermostat is a good idea, especially at night.

However, I can't remember now what form of heating you have, but you should know that if you are using an all in one heat/light/UVB mercury vapour bulb then you can't use it on a thermostat, as the bulb will blow. I think that various safety features that are built into the bulb protect it against wide fluctuations in voltage and overheating and there is something about thermostats that means they can't be used with those bulbs. You can use a timer with mercury vapour bulbs though (set it to come on and go off at a certain tim)e, but just not temperature adjustment with a thermostat.

If you are using any othe type of bulb for heat it should be fine.

Nina

[PhilBen]

Hi Nina,
iam using a heat lamp and a separate t5 uv, so i think i should be ok. It looks very good for the money. the quality is very good. What temp do you suggest i set it to for night time 15c or higher ?

[Nina]

Whew -that's good that you've got a bulb that will work with a thermostat. Yes, I think that 15C should be fine. If you're finding that they are sort of going into hibernation mode then you might consider 16C or 17C, but I would start with 15C and see how it goes. How are you going to heat it at night if the temperature drops below 15C? I don't think you want the light on, as that will confuse them. What you need is a ceramic heat emitter (shaped bit like a light bulb but is ceramic and so just gives off heat and no light). Here's what I mean: https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/arcadi ... heater-50w YHou might be able to get them cheaper somewere else, but this is the sort of thing you want for night time heat.

Nina

[PhilBen]

Hi Nina, I must admit never thought about that, but will get that sorted out before the cold sets in. Thank you.

[Nina]

Actually, if you live in a reasonably modern house you shouldn't need supplementary heating at night unless it gets very cold. Because you've got little ones i'd say that you don't need extra heat at night unless the temperature drops below about 14C or 15C. In the wild temperatures drop at night, and tortoises are used to that. If you do need extra night time heat, I wouldn't have it go above about 18C or 20C, so that they can still experience night and day fluctuations.

Nina

[PhilBen]

Thanks Nina, I started to revamp the outside today. i will send you some pics when finished

[Nina]

Excellent! Can't wait to see photos, and if you do as good a job on the outside as you've done on your indoor table then it will be brilliant!

Nina