General Care Discussion :: skipperdee

[hannah.26]

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to say that I FINALLY GOT SKIPPERDEE!

I got him last night. He's about an inch at the most. Very adorable!

So far he seems to be doing well. He's still scared of us - it's only been a day. But he's eating his pellets (when he thinks we're not looking). He comes out of the water too (also when we're not looking) to bask.

The only thing though is I need a different basking light. the one I have isn't really heating things up like it should (I think it's broken). Anywhere know a good (cheap) place I can find a relatively small one? All I can find are the huge ones.

Thanks!
Hannah

[sonyj]

For a heat light, you can use a regular household bulb and just adjust the wattage to make the basking area at least 10 degrees warmer than the water. Also, over the basking area, you will need a UVB bulb that emits 7-10% UVB rays (will not emit heat) for your turtle to absorb beneficial rays while basking and warming himself. Both these bulbs should be located directly over the basking area with nothing in between them to block the UVB rays (such as glass/screen etc).

What type of bulb do you have now? Where did you get it?

[hannah.26]

Hi, thanks for the fast response!

I have a UVB light that lets off some heat. just not enough. the box said that its supposed to be a kinda dual light so that a basking light wasn't needed. yea...not so. the light doesn't heat up enough. it raises it about 5 degrees. I got the light at a local petstore. it was about $40. its fine for the UVB I think.

I'll prolly try a pets mart or something for the light.

Since my water is at 76 the basking should be around 86 right?

--Hannah

[marisa]

Regular UVB lights are flourescent and don't give off much heat. A lightbulb is really all you need to increase the basking area temp. What is the name of the bulb you bought?

Since your RES is a hatchling, raising the water temp a few degrees (to about 78F) would be good. A basking area temp in the range of 88-90F would also be good.