General Care Discussion :: can I turn on basking lights in the night?

[Boston_Zhao]

My mom comes over to my house during the day to baby sit my kids, so my turtle is always disturbed and slides back into water whenever there is a move. She is shy and nervous and isn't getting much basking.
so I have been thinking to set the timer to turn on the light in the night while we are all in bed, say 2am to 5 am. But would that mess up the turtle's biological clock? or do they really sleep in the night like we do?

[RESnTX]

Is there a way you can cover the side of the tank she basks on? If it's an above tank basking area that would be easy. If it's a basking dock inside the tank, I remember seeing someone here using that "press and seal" kind of saran wrap on the glass to give their turtles some privacy. I would try that instead of leaving the lights on.

[TheComputerGremlin]

You can alter the turtle's clock a little, I wouldn't go that extreme. Some turtles only bask a couple hours a day, some bask like eight hours a day. I've found that my turtle seems to wake up earlier than "daylight" starts at 8 am, so if you were to do anything, I would set the clock forward a few hours. Let the "sun" rise at 5 or 6 am and "set" at 6 pm. You will probably need to incorporate draping something like a sheet or towel around the tank to remove external light in the evenings if you did this though.

As for your turtle diving off her basking area, that's incredibly common. Many people, myself included, NEVER see their turtles basking. She'll eventually get used to the people that are around.

[marisa]

Put a barrier around the end of the tank that has the basking area, even aquarium paper. Then your turtle will have more privacy and won't be disturbed by the movements of your family.

[Boston_Zhao]

thanks guys.....but i think it would be difficult for me to cover the basking area, the fish tank is part of the decoration. My boy gets up at 6:30 am for school, so maybe just make the "sun" rise at 4am?

[imderanged]

can you make the "sun" set at 4 PM? I keep kinda weird hours myself. I have my animals on a 12 hours light/ 12 hours dark cycle, but the light comes on at noon and goes off at midnight. I live in the basement so sunlight breaking the darkness isn't a problem, and my husband an I are the only ones using the space so noone is waking them up all morning. I actually did speak to the vet about this concerning my bird. He said it was ok, as long as they still had a light and dark schedual. I don't see why this wouldn't be ok to do with reptiles if it is ok for birds. I have been doing this all along with my birds and have been doing it with my turtle, lizard and frogs since I have gotten them. I haven't had any problems.

[grey goose]

I say let the turtle get used to the normal activity in your house....I believe this is the best way to get them to used to being around people. As long as there is nothing that will startle them, like loud noises mostly from low frequencies (bass), like stereos or TV's with high power Surround Sound.

[Boston_Zhao]

if I set the sun rise at 4am, and I don't turn the house dark until midnight, she only has 4 hours for her night, isn't that too short for her?

[grey goose]

Can you set up a timer and set it to 12 on, 12 off? That's the way I do it.

[blackforces get you]

i dont have a timer. all i do is i have 2 light bulbs and before i go to bed i switch to a blue or red light bulb. usually this is my schedule on the light bulb i use. in the day i use the same uvb bulb but at night this is how it looks

Monday: blue bulb
Tuesday:red bulb
Wednesday:blue bulb
Thursday:red bulb
Friday:blue bulb
Saturday:red bulb
Sunday:red bulb

i sometimes save energy by just not using the bulbs at all. i just turn it off like twice a week before i go to bed

[Boston_Zhao]

The tank is in my living room which is quite bright, so the UVB/UVA are set to be on from 11am to 4pm only for her to bask.

[imderanged]

I don't think 4 hours of darkness is enough sleeping time. I would also leave the UVB on for longer. About 12 hours with the lights on and 12 hours with the lights off is what seems to be sugested most often.

[Boston_Zhao]

but if they bask only 2 hours a day, why keep the lights on for 12 hours?

[octpusgirl8]

It's close to the natural day/night cycle which is healthy for them. They don't bask the entire time the lights are on, but it gives them plenty of time to bask as much as they see fit. Some days i only catch Turtley basking for a little while, and other days he's basking on and off all day long.