Habitat - Indoor :: A Temperature Question?

[Shinigami]

i just bought a new thermonater and the heat can go round 71-78-81 degrees
but my turtle seems fine in cool water but i dont noe if i should put the therm. inside the tank because it might overheat and itll die!
but i have a nice filter o.0

[jenaero]

You bought a new thermometer, or a new heater?

[Shinigami]

its a heater i guess its in a narrow tube shape and i can change the degress by turning the nob on top of it
im wondering if i should put it in,its a small turtle and it doesnt like LOADS of water so i dont want it to overheat

[jenaero]

Best thing to do is turn it on when you're gonna be home for at least a few hours to monitor the temps. I had to set mine to 81 to get the water to 75 so they're surely not accurate. Get a good thermometer, turn the heater on 75 and keep an eye on the temp for a couple hours. Adjust it if you need to.

Just in case you didn't know, for a hatchling turtle, water temp should be 78F. For a turt over a year old, 72-75 is good.

[Shinigami]

well i bought this small turtle from florida when i was visiting and its bout 1 and half inch so idk if its a hatchling
and should i put the WHOLE heater into the water?

[jenaero]

Yours is still a baby so 78F is good.

What does the package say about submersing it? Put it in vertically if you have to and keep the wire/dial part out of the water. That's what I did with my first one. Then I bought one that I knew someone else used fully submerged so I knew it was safe.

[cprcheetah]

Turtles need a lot of water. You need to get a thermometer so you can tell what the temperature is in the tank. Walmart sells ones that stick on the outside of the tank for under $2 it tells you what the water temp is.

[missibsu]

I'm concerned by the comment where you mentioned a fear of overheating the water because there isn't a lot of water...how much water does your hatchling have? Rule of thumb is 10 gallons per inch of shell length. With the right amount of water, and a heater that is intended for as many gallons, you shouldn't have a problem with overheating.

[Sally]

As jenaero said, keep the top/dial part out of the water (there might be a line indicating where the water level should not go past). But also make sure the water level is high enough that the heating element is fully submerged. The heater relies on the water to carry the heat away- if the heating element isn't submerged, the glass could crack (if you bought a glass heater). Your heater likely has a thermostat so you won't overheat the water unless you set the temperature too high or if the heater malfunctions. In either case, you should pick up a thermometer (only a couple of dollars at the aquarium store) to monitor the temperature especially when you're setting the heater for the first time- DO NOT rely on the setting on the heater.

I also don't know why you think your turtle doesn't like lots of water. How high is your water level now? I think new owners tend to err on the conservative side of how much water their RES needs/wants.