Habitat - Indoor :: Can basking area be TOO hot?

[SamanthasFamily]

I finally got some thermometers to make sure Sammi's tank is at the right temp. We have a tank heater that keeps the water about 78* and is pretty constant give or take 2* according to that thermometer, but according to the thermometer probe we have on her basking area, that is sometimes going a bit over 100*. I know 90* is recommended, but I don't know what I can do to reduce the heat. We have a clamp lamp that sits on top of the mesh tank cover for her heat lamp. I don't really have a way to raise it up higher. Is that too hot for Sammi, and if so what options do I have to lower the temp?
If it matters, Sammi is young (daughter won her at a fair this August) and maybe a bit shy of 2". S/he seems to be doing fine... very active and a little pig!

[ljapa]

100 degrees isn't too warm. Ideally, you want a large enough platform to offer a temperature gradient--areas that are warmer, areas that are less so. That way your turtle can find the ideal temp.

Is the thermometer right under the light, or is this at the edge?

They do make deeper dome lamps that would put it higher. You can use an incandescent bulb, if you still have any, for a heat lamp and try different wattages to get the temp you need.

[SamanthasFamily]

Thanks! The thermometer probe doesn't stay in place really well, but when I've been getting the 100* readings, it's been right under the light. The light pretty much shines on the whole upper part of the platform, but sometimes Sammi hangs out on the edge/"stair" part of the platform and just sticks her head and upper part of her body out of the water. I can try moving the platform over so the light just shines on part of it. I'll look for a deeper lamp also. We did have incandescent bulbs in there for a while, but they would burn out every 2 weeks and I got sick of replacing them so we recently did get a different type of bulb.

[steve]

Thermometer probes (the ones that cost around $5) can be very inaccurate. Have a simple LCD or drop in thermometer to double check the temps. What kind of bulb did you switch to?

[SamanthasFamily]

Oh I didn't know that about the thermometers! This is the one that we got: http://www.petco.com/product/106227/Zoo-Med-Digital-Thermometer.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch Sammi keeps knocking the probe off her rock anyway, so it keeps falling in the water. It's on the opposite end of the tank from her water thermometer and it's reading pretty close to that one, so at least I'm confident her water is staying at 78*! lol.

Our heat lamp is one of those clamp lamps with the metal dome. We were using the incandescent bulbs in it, but they would burn out really quickly so we had gotten a halogen bulb... it says exo-terra swamp glo 75 watt on it.

Thanks!

[steve]

I usually suggest 2 different kinds of thermometers so you can double check. Let us know how the swamp glo works for you.