General Care Discussion :: basking area ideal temp

[bondturtle]

Hi,
I have currently set up my new tank. I will show some pictures soon. I have a question.. Right now for lighting I have 2 x 36" UVB and UVA light. I was told this was the best.. so I covered that basis. My water temp is 79. now about his basking area.. is 82 good? I put a "daylight spot " from EXO TERRA, 75 WATT.. about 6-7 inches from his basking area, current temp is about 82-83.. the name on the box says it's a "neodymium Basking Spot lamp".

Thanks in advance for your help guys!

[jenaero]

I'm not familiar with that lamp. Does it say what percentage of uvb it puts out? The water temp is fine. The basking temp should be 10 degrees higher than the water temp. If its not, they'll have no reason to bask.

[Kallistos]

Your water temperature seems a wee bit on the warm side. Are your turtles sick? If they're adults, then temperatures of 72-75 are acceptable and basking temperatures of 84-92 are utilized. Mine are at 72-73/85-86

[steve]

The EXO TERRA 75 WATT is not a UVB light.. how big is the turtle?

[marisa]

The 36" UVB/UVA light is a tube flourescent? If so, try to get as much of the basking area under it as possible. The ExoTerra is just a heat lamp (you could use a regular lightbulb for the same purpose). It doesn't seem to be putting out much that much heat, though. You want it to warm the basking area to 88-90F. If your turtle is a hatchling, a water temp of 78F is good. If your turtle is older/larger and is healthy, you can bring the water temp down about 5 degrees.