Tortoise Lights

What type of light do tortoises need?

Like other reptiles, tortoises need both UVA light and UVB light. UVA light helps regulate your tortoise’s behaviours, like sleeping, feeding, and mating, while UVB light promotes growth and development by helping your tortoise absorb calcium. By positioning your tortoise enclosure/tortoise tableclose to a window, or by letting your tortoise wander outside for a few hours a day, you should satisfy your tortoise’s UVA light needs. To satisfy their UVB light needs, however, you’ll need to add a specialist UVB lamp/bulb to their enclosure.

What is the best UVB light for tortoises?

The best UVB light for tortoises is a T5 lighting kit. These can be easily added to an enclosed tortoise enclosure, or even an open-top tortoise table provided they’re equipped with suitable mounts. T5 Lights are incredibly energy efficient, producing more light per wattage of electricity than other types of UVB light. Other suitable sources of UVB light include all-in-one heat bulbs. These can be screwed into a compatible lamp and suspended above an open-top tortoise table. They’re popular amongst tortoise keepers as they provide tortoises with both UVB light and heat.