General Care Discussion :: When to change water temp?

[BiteyBits]

Ok, so as I understand it- for hatchlings/young turtles the water temp should be around 80F
And for adults/bigger turtles the temp should be between 75-77F

When should I make the change and lower the temp? Is there a size or age that I should wait for?

I currently have it set at 80F, but it has been getting hotter than that just from the ambient temperature. AC troubles. I have had my turtles for a few months now, and was wondering when to let their tank temp drop a bit.

[mike hill]

It is my suggestion that the temp should be slowly dropped back slowly at about 3". Drop it back a degree at a time until you get to 75 to 76. Just keep up the basking heat at about 90 to 91 degrees with uvb lighting.

[BiteyBits]

Ok, I have a while then they are still small. Thanks.

[jozzep]

I've never heard of keeping the temps higher for hatchlings. 76-78 should be the perfect temp for any size turtle. Only time you raise it to the 80's is if you suspect an illness or RI.

[BiteyBits]

Oh? I thought I had read that on the site somewhere . . . ah well, it's moot at the moment the turtles heater is off and they are as hot as the rest of us with no AC anyway.

Um, should I be watching for any ill effects of heat above 80's?

[steve]

I don't recall if there are many symptoms of having temps in the low 80's, though skin shedding would be a problem.

[BiteyBits]

I'm seeing some of that already. Thanks.

[pribble]

I usually start mine off by having the temp. around 79 to 80 to keep metabolism up, active and hungry. They will grow a little faster and seem more healthy at the higher temp. When they are about 2-1/2 inches I lower the temp slowly to about 75 to 76.

[TheComputerGremlin]

My turtle did have to endure two summers of being in the 80s, and the only effects that I noted was an increased appetite and excessive skin shedding. Unfortunately both times she lived in the room without air conditioning, nothing we could do about it! I would periodically drop some ice cubes in, not enough to raise the water level too much or to cool it down too much, and it was rather entertaining to watch her try to figure out what they were or if they were food.

You can try freezing water in like 2 liter bottles that are sealed and put those in the tank to drop the temp, though it only helps for a little while and then the temps rise again.

[mikee]

When your turtles are small it is very important to keep their temp as constant as possible. Newbies have a habit of taking them out and playing with them and putting them back in numerous times. This is not good for small turtles.

[BiteyBits]

I've been feeding them a little extra because I know the high temp keeps their metabolism up and I don't want that to starve them. I just keep lettuce in the tank all the time so they can eat whenever they want too.

I've considered the frozen water thing, I might do that on hottest days like today to keep them out of the 90's range. I think a 2liter might be too big, it's a 20gal. I was actually going to get those mini bottles today so I could experiment with how many to put in to keep the temp down without overdoing it.