General Care Discussion :: res hatchling won't bask

[mattowen]

Hello everyone,
I am the proud new owner of a 1 1/2 inch res. We went out and got all of the neccesities. We got a turtle dock, backing lamp in a exo terra reflector, canister filter, submersible heater (about to take it it back for a better one) uvb lamp and some other various things to make the 20 gallon long tank look pretty. My res seems to never bask. How long should I keep the basking lamp on? Or the UVB lamp? I am going to petsmart today to get a better heater that will get the water temp up to about 81 degrees. I am not sure what the temp of the basking area is. Plus the distance from the top of the dock to the bottom of the bulb is about a foot. Is that too far away? Also will my turtle get burned by the heater? Please help me. Thanks in advance for all replies.

[octpusgirl8]

First of all, congratulations on your new baby RES! It may take him a while to get comfortable enough to bask, and they're very shy about it so he may be basking and jumping off quickly whenever you are about to enter the room. The basking lamp and UVB lamp should be on 10-12 hours a day, a timer makes life a lot simpler and gives your turtle a consistent day/night schedule. You should measure the temp of the basking area, it should be about 10 degrees warmer than the water to encourage basking. The UVB bulb should be at least 6-12" away, depending on what kind you have. It should say on the packaging. You can adjust the heat bulb closer or further to get the right temp. And about the heater, no it won't burn him, but you should make sure it's vertical rather than horizontal so that he doesn't rest on it. If you're getting a new heater, go with the visitherm steath series, they're great for turtles and very reliable. Hope this was helpful, and don't be shy if you have more questions

[marisa]

Welcome to the forum. As octopusgirl8 said, since you just got him, give him some time to get adjusted to new surroundings. You do need to get a better handle on the basking area temp, though, which means checking it with a thermometer (include that with the better water heater). The basking area temp should be in the range of 88-90F, a regular lightbulb is fine for heat. Since you say the bulb is 12" from the dock, you need to use a wattage that will get the temp in that range.

Assuming your turtle is healthy, you might want to lower the water temp a bit, to more like 78F (81F is more for a turtle that's showing signs of being ill). If the water is too warm, relative to the basking area, your turtle will be less apt to want to bask.

The chance of your turtle getting burned by the water heater is really slim---the heater should never feel really hot in the water (and don't plug it in if it's not in the water). If you're concerned, you could get a heater guard, but I doubt your turtle will have a problem.

[mattowen]

First of all, thank you for the great information. And of course, after I typed this message, I noticed that Franklin (yes my 2 year old daughter named him) started to bask. I did get a new thermometer. I got a good digital one. His water temp is between 76 and 78 degrees. His basking area is consistantly around 85. Now another question, can you feed a turtle too much. I fed him a single reptomin baby pellet and he ate it like he never ate before. So I gave him two more and the same thing. I was just wondering.

[mattowen]

I also have a funny addition. Yesterday I saw him basking and thought he was stuck. He was behind the guides for out turtle dock. As I got closer, he crawled back completely onto the dock. By the way he was situated, it looked like he was trying to gat some heat on the underside of his shell (I don't have the terminalogy yet).