General Care Discussion :: How long turtle need sunbathing?

[fajristone]

in morning iam always let my turtle out for 1 hours sunbathing.Is this good for my turtle

[CactusJohn5]

it's always a risk to allow your turtle outside, only you can decided if you want to take the risk or not. 1 hour is not enough.

Pro: the sun is the best UVB your turtle can get
Pro: walking around is good exercise for your turtle.

Con: unknown outdoor bacteria(s)
Con: Escape risk, losing your turtle if you don't pay 100% attention to it.
Con: Animal attacks, if your leaving it in a pen or something An animal could get in and attack your turtle.

[fajristone]

it's always a risk to allow your turtle outside, only you can decided if you want to take the risk or not. 1 hour is not enough.

Pro: the sun is the best UVB your turtle can get
Pro: walking around is good exercise for your turtle.

Con: unknown outdoor bacteria(s)
Con: Escape risk, losing your turtle if you don't pay 100% attention to it.
Con: Animal attacks, if your leaving it in a pen or something An animal could get in and attack your turtle.

can you tell me how long turtle need sunbathing?

[CactusJohn5]

i might need some others to verify, but i always thought it was a minimum of 3 hour up to 8 hours per day.

[fajristone]

i might need some others to verify, but i always thought it was a minimum of 3 hour up to 8 hours per day.

ok thanks

[PridgNYC]

As much as they want, and on their schedule. Limit their access to sunlight or simulated sunlight (UVA+UVB) lights. to the natural daytime cycle, 12hours on, 12 hours off, or whatever diurnal schedule you want, but keep it consistent. I use a timer on the basking lights for this.

Turtles sunbathe for two reasons: 1. to regulate their internal temperature. 2. to get UVB rays that activate vitamin D factories in their cells. The vitamin D allows them to process and absorb calcium so they can grow.

They will eat calcium and food and sunbathe as needed and as available to grow and regulate their temperature. It's more important for them to be abe to regulate their temperature, so it's best to have the water temperature at around 72 -84 and the basking temp 10-15 degrees higher.

Calcium is usually added by giving them access to a cuttle bone with the backing stripped off so they can take bites of it. Have you noticed that turtles have 'beaks'? Which may need some kind of artificial wear to keep in shape... Personally I don't think that eating pellets matches the abuse that their mandibles would get in the wild.