General Care Discussion :: my hatchling just "basks" all the time but there's

[fatin]

it just stays on the dry area. does not swim, the temparture of the water is between 75 and 80 so it should be warm and it just goes to the little rock and sits there, there's no sun or any source of UVA/UVB upthere, it's winter and its indoors! why do you think he/she does that!

[mikee]

Fat-i Your turtle is probably looking for some sun light and or uvb lighting. If they cannot fine it they will spend a lot of time trying to dry off. If you care for your turtle you will get him a basking area at about 90 to 91 degrees with uvb lighting. They need it to metabolize their food.

[fatin]

I care for my turtle, but I live in a desert, we do not have a zoo or an aquarium to get the UVA/UVB light from. the fish store has one 2 years old turtle that lives in complete darkness and it looks like it is about to die, so i think that by buying the turtles from there i am caring for them: the tank, the temprature, the food, everything is fine, but i can't find a light at the moment that has UVA/UVB... I need to order one online and get it shipped to my country and this is goint to cost me a lot so I am saving for it. What I am currently doing is moving the tank around the house chasing the little rays of sun that we get.
Thanks for the advice.
and my name is Fatin not Fat-i.

[jay2487]

Fatin, just use a normal light bulb for heat. This will let the turtle dry off quicker then he will go back to swimming. For the UVB lighting, you say you live in the desert so I assume you get plenty of sun, until you can get a UVB bulb just put the aquarium by a window. As I understand it the turtle just has to get UVB it doesn't have to bask in it. The sun is the best source of UVB and your tank getting half a days worth through a window is better than none at all. The regular light bulb shining down from about 12 inches above your basking area should dry him off and get him to go swimming again

[TheComputerGremlin]

Let me clarify something jay is saying, the glass in windows and the aquarium tank blocks all of the UVB, so placing the tank near a window is pointless.

Your turtle NEEDS 15 minutes of sunlight a day. So, what does that mean for people who don't have access to a UVB bulb, you simply take your turtle out and give them 15 minutes of unrestricted sunlight each day. Now, there will be a day here and there that it's too cloudy, and the turtle will be fine without it. But every sunny day, 15 minutes of sunlight. Remember in the wild, they will have to deal with cloudy days anyways.

Ideally, when you have your turtle out, you want the outside temps to be about 75 degrees. So, during the hot months, you may need to allow for sunlight in the very early morning. From online, it seems like it's still a bit chilly there for this sort of sunlight basking, which is fine as well. Remember also that in the wild, your turtle would be hibernating at the moment and not getting any sunlight. It's certainly better to be without sunlight than shocking the turtle from cold temps.

A standard incandescent bulb, around 60W, is perfect for a basking area. Replace as it burns out. UVB bulbs, however, will need to be replaced every 6-8 months, which means that you may be spending a great deal of money on bulbs and shipping. I suggest continually looking around in pet stores for a bulb, but don't waste your money. If you know of a pet store that sells or deals in lizards, they may have a UVB bulb.

[jay2487]

So if he sits his aquarium next to a window and sun is shining directly down in the tank, this wouldn't give the turtle UVB? Learn something everyday

[TheComputerGremlin]

If you could configure it so that the window was open, the screen had holes greater than 1/2" or no screen at all, and the sun was able to enter the tank through the top, the turtle would get UVB. However, the other side of the problem is that the tank would heat up very quickly and the turtle might roast to death!

It's the same concept that if you are driving around in your car with the windows up, sun shining, you don't get a sunburn. But if your window is down and your arm is exposed, you'll get burnt/tanned. I don't believe that glass blocks 100% of the UVB, only because you see some sunglasses rated at 100% UVB or not rated, but I would imagine that it blocks such a significant amount, like 95%+. I don't know if acrylic would act the same way, that may allow UVB to pass through a lot. I haven't invested in a UV meter ... yet.

[jay2487]

what about the water itself? Would the turtle have to bask in UVB or would it just shining down in the tank serve the same purpose?

[bradmeisel]

gremlin has very good advice once again. I agree with all gremlin said.

[Kemul]

As far as I know, much from this forum, UVB doesn't penetrate water. So, if you're
using UVB bulb that's shining towards water only, that would be useless. From
sunlight, however, I believe UVB amount is far greater. So, it can penetrate glass
and water, though blocked a lot that it's sort of not enough for a turtle. (Hm..I find
myself repeating JAX..sorry)

Another problem if a tank is put near a window is algae.

[Spike 7.62]

Fatin, could you post pictures of your set up?

Also, if you have a topper on your tank that holds a tube bulb, there may be UV tube bulbs available to you. There were places in Iraq that had UV emitting bulbs for turtles, I remember they used to sell these big dark yellow snapper-ish looking turtles in buckets and kids loved them.

-Spike

[vear]

UVB does not penetrate glass. Also, I'm not very clear on this because I only skimmed a few articles but, UVB seems to penetrate water only to a certain extent. It seems like some uvb might go through but it gets scattered by different substances in the water. I need to do more reading on this now, I'm curious.

Bottom line, UVB light should be pointing to your basking area and it shouldn't be behind a glass/window. From my reading I don't think much gets through the water either.