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if it hurt my eyes when i look into it how is it not hurting the turles eyes at 6 inchs the suggested length

It hurts looking at the sun right. So the bulb thing isn't any different. They'll be fine with the light 6'' away, it'll be similar to the sun.

I doubt your turtles are going to spend a lot of time staring at the light.

Do turtles go into a trance-like state when basking? I see my turtles look limp when basking but come to life with action in the room.

I would think the warmth relaxes them.

Okay, so it's like the feel-good effect UV rays have on some people?

I'm not sure of the feel-good effect UV rays unless you're referring to how some people get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) from a lack of sunlight in the winter months. The UV rays promote health (and UVA rays I think especially are supposed to promote a feeling of well-being in humans), but I was thinking more in terms of the heat and how it would be relaxing.