General Care Discussion :: Do I wake the sleeping turtles?

[queenjane]

I'm pretty sure my turtle keeps as weird of hours as I do. Even with the lights off he'll sometimes be swimming around and poking about and trying to bask. I'm like, "Dummy, it's three AM... There is no UVA/UVB light in this hemisphere at this hour! Go to sleep!" But he does his own thing, you know. He sleeps a lot during the day anyway, especially when he's basking. He absolutely loooves to fall asleep under those warm lights.

I really don't think you have anything to worry about unless your turtles are not sleeping at all during a 24 hour period. If they don't nap during the day or won't sleep unless its pitch black, then I'd think about using a blackout curtain over the tank. If you get a wire cover for the tank, you should be able to throw a blanket or some dark fabric over the tank without a problem. When I've done it, I've usually propped it up with like a cup or draped it over something taller than the tank to keep the air circulating underneath it. (You don't want to suffocate your turtle!)

[lunabebe4]

I have a timer to have the uvb light come on at noon and turn off at midnight cuz we have the tank in our bedroom and me and my boyfriend get up at different times. In the morning when i wake up at 10 i do turn the infared heat lamp on for her, and it gives me the light i need to not wake my bf up, but momo is normally always awake when i get up and turn the light on is at the tank looking at me like Where is my food? lol.

Then she basks and sleeps during the day when we are both at work, once i come home at 7 though she stays in the water til we go to bed( she is still new and wont bask in front of us, i think she feels to open and vulnerable.)

When her uvb light goes out at 12 we leave all the lights off and just keep her heat lamp on and she is fine with that and swims around for a bit, we normally go to bed at 1-2 am and she normally sleeping on her rocks under water around. Once we go to bed we turn of the heat lamp and sometimes she stays under water or sleeps on her dock.