General Care Discussion :: 75 watt too hot or is my thermometer wrong?

[mal]

Hi, I just bought some stuff for my turtle I haven't gotten yet. I bought the 75 watt bulb with a clamp lamp. I put my thermometer under it for 15 minutes and it said it was 98 degreas but when i put my hand under it it wasn't that hot to me. Is my thermometer wrong or is that how it's suppose to be? My mom said we should try the 50 watt.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Is the light just a normal household bulb or 75watt heat bulb.

If its a normal household bulb, then the thermometer is wrong. If its a heat lamp bulb it could be that hot.

Keep you hand under the bulb for 15mins. Does your hand start to burn?

[mal]

It's not a normal household one, my mom and I bought it at Petsmart.

[BullDog]

It sounds like the thermom is probably correct. Can you move the lamp so it's farther away from the basking area?

[theartbook35]

You said you have the thermometer right under the lamp. There's a funny thing about thermometers, if you move it down, the temperature reading will go down. The thermometer should be closer to where the turtles usually go. My issue with bulbs even though we have to use them is that they do not heat evenly. I'd on the safe side move your lamp up about one or two inches. It's amazing what a distance of a couple of inches can change.

The hottest a turtle can live with is 95 degrees. 98 degrees borders on too hot to handle.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Like bulldog said move it further away.

For future ref. You dont have to waste your money on those heat bulbs. A normal 75watt bulb produces enough heat.

[theartbook35]

Like bulldog said move it further away.

For future ref. You dont have to waste your money on those heat bulbs. A normal 75watt bulb produces enough heat.

My 50 watt heat emitter actually generates more heat than a regular 75 watt house bulb. For those who's turtles like to sleep in their basking spot at night, ceramic heat emitters and infared heat emitters can be on 24 hours, and if angled and placed in just the right spot, can heat both basking spot and a half full tank rather nicely. This what I do, and I've gotten my water to 75 degrees and my basking spot to 87 degrees.

http://www.petdiscounters.com sell cheap UVB and heat bulbs that work very nicely. Infared only works with a certain turtle personality, just be warned about that. The explanations aren't always perfect, but they give dimensions of almost everything and the largest category on the site is the turtle section. Their ramps/docks are cute too.

[mal]

ok, thanks everyone. I will try it. I guess I'll set up my tank with everything and test it again as it would be if it was over the basking place. If, not I'll try a regular 50 watt bulb I found in the garage.

thanks a bunch for the sugestions.