General Care Discussion :: Confused about temps

[julie373]

So, I've been reading the site, and I just got a themometer and the basking spot is like 98, and the water is 79.5. I'm not sure if the basking spot is too hot. Some places say it's only supposed to be 10 degrees above the water so that would be 89, and other places say that the ideal temp is 90-95

[steve]

If it's an older turtle, it should be OK though I would shoot for that 90-95 mark. Some turtles can be picky, some could not care.

[julie373]

Well, its a young tutle. And it's been basking, but I can't figure out how to drop the temp? It doesnt have a control that I can lower it or anything and i cant seem to get it any further away. I have a clamp lamp, but it doesn't want to stay up all that well. Any advice?

[steve]

How did you measure the temps? Did you place it straight down on the basking spot or was it elevated a bit (to approximate the top of the shell)?

Most people can move it or redirect the heat. Another option is to use a lower wattage bulb.

[julie373]

I put it on the basking spot. It's a 50 watt I think

[SpotsMama]

Hmmm. If the clamp fixture doesn't want to stay up that well then I'd be worried. You definitely don't want it falling into that tank - that would be a mega problem. Maybe you need a different light fixture.

[Bumby's Mom]

Do you have a UVB light above that area as well? If you do try shutting off the heat lamp and see how much the temperature drops. In some cases the UVB light can produce enough heat so that the basking area is around 90. I don't like the clamp lamps, can't seem to get them in the position I want. I have one of those screen tops and just set the lamps on there. I know that with a 60 watt bulb (which for some odd reason is the smallest I can find) the basking area in my tank goes well over 100 so it is not being used at the moment.

[industrial_girl_2000]

If it is a clamp lamp, try moving it up a couple of inches. This will help drop the temp of the basking area by a few degrees.

And the 10-degrees-more-than-the-water rule is a guideline to help people to understand that the basking area has to be HIGHER in temp than the water temp. If it is a bit more than 10 degrees, it is ok as long as the turtle is fine with it and basking.

In my case, the basking temp is about 8 degrees (in other words, "less than the 10 degree" rule) more than the water temp, but my turtle still basks anyway & sits on the basking dock *all day*. As long as the turtle basks, it means they can feel the heat & that's what you want.

[marisa]

The clamp lamp has a dome reflector? If it doesn't want to stay up, you could get a wire mesh like hardware cloth (sold in places like Home Depot in addition to hardware stores) with 1/2 inch holes to let in an acceptable amount of UVB rays and place the dome on that.