Habitat - Outdoor :: Moving...

[cheech&chong]

So I might be moving to a new house and the room I'm renting has a balcony... If I put my tank out there, will it be ok to rely on natural light? It's a pretty shaded balcony...

What about having the tank out with the lamps at the same time?

Any suggestions?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

No it will not be okay. If I remember correctly your tank isnt too big (30 gallons right?), so the sun can actually heat up the water to dangerous temperatures. It is a bad idea to put a glass tank in direct sunlight (if your going to rely on natural sunlight, obviously sun is going to have to come in contact with the tank) simple and short, no.

[untsmurf]

I wouldn't feel comfortable with it out there, you have no defense from animals coming in and hurting your turt. Plus you would have a really hard time maintaining your temps and the algae would probably go nuts. Now if you enclosed the balcony, that might make it plausible.

[cheech&chong]

Hmmm... well what a disappointment.... As I said, the balcony has a roof and the area is very shaded with many trees... It is outdoors but I doubt there'll be direct sunlight hitting the tank... Plus it looks as if potential predators would a really hard time climbing on that balcony... This doesn't change anything?

[adam85491]

Birds can fly and even a little bit of sunlight can cause heating and algae growth..it sounds like a good idea but if it is so shaded then how will the turtles get sufficient basking done?

[marisa]

What floor is the balcony on? When you say "pretty shaded," how much sun does it actually get and for how long?

Could you get a smallish stock tank (around 40 - 50 gallons)? You could cover the top with 1/2-inch hardware cloth to protect your turtle from predators and from escaping.

[Terryo]

Instead of a tank..how about a little pre-formed pond. You could put a filter, some water plants, and a basking rock. Use your imagination, and your turt will love it. It would have to get some sun though.
Terry

[cheech&chong]

Well, I don't know what to do now... The balcony is on the 2nd floor, it faces the backyard and there's lots of trees and shade, so I doubt it gets direct sunlight at all.

The house actually has this artificial "pond" on the backyard but it's pretty much abandoned and in bad shape... I'm only renting a room so I don't know if I could convince the owners to let me work on it and make the turts a new home...

Can the tank be outside on the balcony and with the artificial lights?

[adam85491]

Maybe if you had a netting going around the balcony to keep out most sunlight and potential predators..though it may be hard for a heater to do it's job outside at night.

[cheech&chong]

Well, there's power outlets in the balcony... the balcony used to be screened but it looks as if the screens are torn, I could replace them...

Can anyone tell me if having them out there with the heat lamps is a good or bad idea then?

[DavidY]

It despends on the climate there. Do you know what the maximum and minimum temperatures on the deck are during a typical 24hr period? The problem with small tanks or tubs outdoors is the drastic change in temperatures between night and day. Ponds that are in the ground are much better protected from temperature extremes because of the insulation provided by the earth. But a tank or tub is totally exposed to the air temperatures and will fluctuate just as much. Maintaining any kind of consistent temperature will be difficult.

[steve]

Having the heat lamps can be a real bad idea (wind, rain). Why can't you keep them indoors?

[marisa]

It's very hard to make suggestions without seeing what the actual porch and layout look like. I don't know how much money you'd want to invest in being able to put your turtles on the balcony, but if the screens have been torn down and, if, as you mentioned, you could replace them, you could also replace them with bamboo blinds (I've seen some porches with them) that you could raise or lower as needed.

The only way to know what the temp is like is to put a container of comparable size on the balcony and moniter the temps with a thermometer for a few days.

[cheech&chong]

Well, as it turns out, I only lasted one week at that place as it turned out to be disgusting... luckily I found a much nicer bigger place really quick and moved right away... now the turts get to stay indoors and under better control.

I should take pics of them... they've grown.

[DavidY]

Glad you were able to find a better place for you and your turts!