General Care Discussion :: How long should the Heat lamp be on for?

[Meagan]

Me and my boyfriend recently got 3 tutles that are approx. 3-4" in lenght.. we have 1 girl named corona and 2 boys named Jack and Tequila..

we havent gotten a thermometer for the basking area yet.. so we are unsure of the temp. plus we are unsure on how long we are to keep the heat light on for.. we dont have a water heater yet so we dont want to turn off the only source of heat for them... wondering if anyone could help.??

[Smoofish268]

Welcome to the boards, Meagan!

You definitely need to get a thermometer for the basking area as soon as you can, as well as for the water. Do you have a UVB bulb above the basking area also? Most of us keep our turtles on a 12 hour on/12 hour off cycle with the lights; it gives them more of a natural cycle to go by. How big is the setup you have for your turts?

Have you read the main sections of this website about turtle care? It's a great idea to do so if your new to turtles, and even if you've kept turtles before. Glad to have you and your turtles a part of the forum!

[megcornell]

The heat lamp should be on a natural cycle... so you should mimic the daylight hours. It isn't a stable heat source for a tank, especially larger tanks, so you'll need to pick up a heater ASAP. You'll also want to look at the main site for what turtle tanks should have: filter, UVB, basking dock, thermometers... in addition to the heater and heat lamp. How large is your tank? 3 3inch turtles are going to require a large tank, so you're going to want at least a 55-75 gallon tank to start with.