Habitat - Indoor :: How important is my turtle's light bulb/basking area?

[Louis97]

Hi folks, on Saturday my turtle's old purple bulb ran out of puff, so I sent my dad down to the local DIY hardware store to get a new one, as I was going to a concert and had no time to do so myself.
So, he brought back a traditional yellowy-coloured bulb as opposed to the purple one I had before, which is very bright. In addition to this, I have noticed Kenny has been going a bit crazy recently, rapid swimming up to the side of the tank and what not. Could this be because of his new bulb?

It's also worth mentioning that the two rocks I had piled up so that he could sit on fell over the other day and it has been too unsteady for me to sit the smaller rock back on top of the bigger rock, so he hasn't had a really great basking area, he's only really been able to get the top half of his body out of the water when he sits on the filter. I planned to remedy this at the weekend by getting him one of those turtle logs at the weekend that float for him to sit on, meaning that he could bask at whatever the water volume was. How important is his basking area? Could it be his erratic behavior in contributed to the fact he doesn't have a decent basking area?

All replies are appreciated, need urgent help, haha. Thank you all!

[AlexisAwesome]

His eye can get swollen (around it). He will sleep way more and will not eat. His shell can rot and so do his bones causing him to die. I had Dexter in a plain tub with no basking area (it broke), and he almost died.

[Louis97]

His eye can get swollen (around it). He will sleep way more and will not eat. His shell can rot and so do his bones causing him to die. I had Dexter in a plain tub with no basking area (it broke), and he almost died.

Whoaaaa, slow down! What is this due to? My new light or the lack of basking area?

EDIT: I gather you mean basking area, panicking like hell fire now! I'll get down to the garden center tomorrow afternoon and pick up one of those turtle logs. Should that be enough? Is my lightbulb suitable? Many thanks!

[ljapa]

Basking is important, and getting completely out of the water when a turtle basks is very important.

That said, a few days without good basking is not dire. Not basking for weeks can be.

A turtle needs to bask for both their bones and to regulate their temperature. The temp is obvious, the bone development is less so. So, you want to provide UVB and heat. If you were using one of those purple black lights, it probably wasn't providing the ideal UVB spectrum.

UVB hitting a turtle's skin produces a precursor to vitamin D3, which is needed for the turtle to turn calcium into bone. Besides using the heat to thermoregulate, that D3 precursor turns into another precursor under the warmth produced by basking.

Being able to get completely out of the water not only helps with the thermoregulation, but it also allows the entire turtle to dry off, which can help prevent fungal infections.

A basking log is great, but make sure you can somehow anchor it under your heat and UVB source.

The main site has a great section on lighting:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_lighting_basking.html

And for a very technical explanation of the D3 production, see

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/vitdpathway.htm

[Louis97]

Basking is important, and getting completely out of the water when a turtle basks is very important.

That said, a few days without good basking is not dire. Not basking for weeks can be.

A turtle needs to bask for both their bones and to regulate their temperature. The temp is obvious, the bone development is less so. So, you want to provide UVB and heat. If you were using one of those purple black lights, it probably wasn't providing the ideal UVB spectrum.

UVB hitting a turtle's skin produces a precursor to vitamin D3, which is needed for the turtle to turn calcium into bone. Besides using the heat to thermoregulate, that D3 precursor turns into another precursor under the warmth produced by basking.

Being able to get completely out of the water not only helps with the thermoregulation, but it also allows the entire turtle to dry off, which can help prevent fungal infections.

A basking log is great, but make sure you can somehow anchor it under your heat and UVB source.

The main site has a great section on lighting:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_lighting_basking.html

And for a very technical explanation of the D3 production, see

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/vitdpathway.htm

I love you buddy. It's 23:18 and I have school in the morning, but I'm sweating over this turtle situation. I'm going to bed the now, but I'll make sure to cancel my plans tomorrow and nip round to the garden center. Cheers!

[ljapa]

I love you buddy. It's 23:18 and I have school in the morning, but I'm sweating over this turtle situation. I'm going to bed the now, but I'll make sure to cancel my plans tomorrow and nip round to the garden center. Cheers!

No need to rush out tomorrow. Take the time tomorrow to read the lighting guidelines. Make sure you have a plan to get the correct lights and build a log basking area. Then go get what you know you need.

Sounds like your turtle can at least get partially out and has a heat source. Those are more important in the short term.

[AlexisAwesome]

His eye can get swollen (around it). He will sleep way more and will not eat. His shell can rot and so do his bones causing him to die. I had Dexter in a plain tub with no basking area (it broke), and he almost died.

Whoaaaa, slow down! What is this due to? My new light or the lack of basking area?

EDIT: I gather you mean basking area, panicking like hell fire now! I'll get down to the garden center tomorrow afternoon and pick up one of those turtle logs. Should that be enough? Is my lightbulb suitable? Many thanks!

As long as the bulb produces heat. It does not have to be right away. It took my turtle atleast a month for all of it to happen. Oh yeah, make sure the log you are getting is inviting for the turtle.

[steve]

Why did he have a purple bulb? Stick to either regular incandescents or halogens for light and basking.

How many watts is the new bulb? Are you sure it's a traditional bulb?

Let's start with the basics... how big is the turtle? How big is his tank?

[Louis97]

Why did he have a purple bulb? Stick to either regular incandescents or halogens for light and basking.

How many watts is the new bulb? Are you sure it's a traditional bulb?

Let's start with the basics... how big is the turtle? How big is his tank?

1.) It was just the bulb that came in his starter tank. It wasn't a purple dyed bulb, like a black light or that, it was more just kind of a UV bulb that gave off a purple tint.
2.) I don't know, I wasn't there when it was purchased, but it doesn't look much brighter than the other one.
3.) Kenny is about 7 years old, and he has a shall size of about 16cm
4.) The tank is around 1780 liters in volume and it's usually filled around half way or maybe a little more.

Sorry for the slow replies folks, busy day, but I still appreciate all your help. I have stacked Kenny's rocks to give him a good basking area for now, it's slightly unstable, but he usually doesn't move so much or so fast to even affect their placement, so it should be fine temporarily.

[steve]

That's a huge tank, is that an accurate measurement?

[Louis97]

Sorry bud, I messed up my conversion, I thought there was 100ml in a litre. I was never good at maths.
It has a volume of 170 litres.

[steve]

Is Kenny a confirmed male?