General Care Discussion :: Basking and light Questions.

[thatgirl05]

So, I finally got Juelz's tank all set up and we've finally seen her eat, shes very active and loves to swim around but I now hardly ever catch her basking. She likes to hang off the end of her dock with her upper body on dried off and her lower body still in ther water. So she doesnt really completely dry off. Although her new set is only 2 weeks old. Can she be just not used to it?

I have a TetraFauna Aquatic Reptile Heater, which is preset at 78.F which keeps my tank water around 80.F. The basking bulb is A Zoo-Med Repti Basking Spot Lamp Bulb 100w, which the lady at petsmart said it ok for a basking light. I know you arent soppposed to trust pet store people, but the box also says that its " The ulimate basking light for all types of reptiles". So I dont know. It says that provides benefical UVA rays and it didnt say anything about UVB So I just had an a regular household bulb in another lamp just in case.

Now I know that you have your basking temps around 10 degrees warmer to make her want to bask, but I dont quite know how to adjusts the temps. I know I can move the basking light closer and farther away, but I dont know how to adjust the water temp, because it said nothing about adjusting the temp. in the instructions.

Im sorry if Im confusing any of you, I just read about how many things can go wrong if they dont bask and She's my Baby and I dont want anything to wrong !

Thanks in advance!

[industrial_girl_2000]

You sound like a very caring person so let me give you the low-down on UVB: The bulb you bought is GREAT for UVA, gives wonderful heat that your turtle will love. Unfortunately it has *no* UVB in it so you will need another bulb that specifically says UVB on it (UVB is important for calcium absorption). Many of the folks on this board are fond of the ZooMed Reptisun compacts which come in 5.0 or 10.0 (5% or 10% UVB respectively). I have the 5.0 for my baby & it works just fine. And you can fit this Reptisun bulb in a standard clamp-lamp if you don't want to do a long tube lamp.

UVB lights must be replaced yearly since they lose their strength over time.

Best places to buy: online, since you can get a better deal on the prices than in the store! So shop around the various sites (petco, petsmart, Dr. Fosters, Big Al's online, etc.). Don't worry, your turtle will be fine for the next week until you get the lamp sent to you.

[SpotsMama]

On that Aquatic Reptile Heater - does that heater go in the water? And there's no knob on it with a little thermostat to set the temp higher or lower? It's odd that if it's pre-set to 78 it's actually warming the water to 80. Is it just inaccurate? If it's inaccurate, can you return it to the shop where you got it? If you can, perhaps you could trade it for a Stealth heater or some other sort where the temperature is adjustable so you can bring the water temp down a few degrees to around 78.

You can lose the bulb in the regular household lamp and use the 5.0 or 10.0 Reptisun compact flourescent that Kristin described. Then you'll have the two bulbs you need - the Basking bulb for heat and the flourescent bulb for UVB. They will both provide UVA.

For adjusting temperature on the basking area, like you said you just move the Basking bulb closer or further away until the temperature as measured on the basking spot is at least 10 degrees higher than your water temperature.

Sounds like you're doing a great job! Let us know how it's going.