Urgent Care :: HELP! rescued a new YBS hatchling

[penelope]

Oh, Dave
I am so sorry!!!!!!
Bless you and best wishes for his little buddy!

[dave_m141]

Its ok, was a bit upsettnig to see him die after trying my best with him! he seemed to of got so much better though.

His little friend is doing amazingly. he looks perfect already, normal behaviour. very active!

[dave_m141]

oh i have one question. the other lil turtle i got. he seems all fine and stuff but when he basks, hel often just lay his head resting on the floor, what does this mean? if anything?

[steve]

They'll all bask in different positions but are generally alert. What's the basking temperature, what lights are you using and what did you use to measure the temp?

[dave_m141]

basking temp is 95, water is 25degrees, and i have a permanent thermomenter that i have on the glass on the basking area. I use a 100w basking lamp with a red night heat lamp at night. not sure if the red heat lamp is needed for night but seeing as its an open topped tank and i like to sleep with my windows open in my room so i dont get hot i thought id get one just in case! oh and i have a flourescent UVB bulb, the tube type long ones.

[steve]

Basking temp is 95F? Try to keep it lower to 90F. Have a thermometer on the glass will not give an accurate reading of what the basking area is. They really shouldn't bask at night, so you don't need that bulb and you should have a submersible water heater to keep the temps in check.

[dave_m141]

my thermometer is a crappy one i was given bya friend so i reckon il invest in a new one! change of subject, how do you tell how old they are? is there a rough age to size? if so, what is it? i may be gaining a new turtle soon from my friend who says its 1 year old. but its massive!

[steve]

Size is not relative to age, so it's possible to have a huge 1 year old but it might have issues later on, particularly shell deformities and organ failure.

[dave_m141]

oh lovely, i may not take him then! thankss