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I used BullDog's idea of using egg crate and a plastic bin to build a no-frills basking area to get Sally more swim space. It will be a while before I can upgrade, so space was at a premium for my big girl. I added a sleeping berth too, and she's using it! Here it is:



One might be thinking that the lights seem too low but it wasn't warm at a higher elevation and it's got the proper 10 degree difference from the water temp. Sal loves it and is basking as much as she did before but now has area to 'sprawl' out...and boy is she taking advantage of it!

Sal's first look-


First attempt up the ramp-


Wow, this isn't too bad!


There you have it.

Is the plastic bin closed at the top?

Nope; it's cut out with a bit of a lip left to thwart escape attempts ...though she never looks to climb anyway.

Wow that is awesome!!
Your turtle seems to love it

ingenius! what a great idea. well done.

Sally looks pleased....Nice job!

What a great idea. And it seems so easy to make and inexpensive. I love it.

i love the setup!

Wow! Sally looks really healthy!

That's a great setup! I wish I could make things...lol

Thanks for the kind comments; I owe so much to the contributors on this forum. When I joined this January, Sally was in only 6" of water with a TetraFauna filter, had no heat, no UVB, and ate only pellets! I'm sure if the turtle 'queen' could talk, she'd say that she was eternally grateful and ask me what the heck took you so long to get a clue mom!

It looks like she is really happy with her new basking area. And what a clever and creative mom she has.

Nice job! Sally is a pretty lucky girl.

That looks pretty cool! She can't reach the rim of the tank while on the ramp, can she?

She comes short of it but she's not a climber...when spoiled rotten why leave?

Looks awsome! The semi-translucent basket is cool to see her basking too!