General Care Discussion :: Drastic Changes for Old Turtle

[twinkie]

I am so glad it's normal for them not to lay eggs, I was beginning to worry about her.
I am building an ATBA. So, the lights would sit on top of that which will be 10" tall.

[steve]

Post some progress pictures

[Kansasslider]

Lights.

[steve]

Looks good, how's the filter doing?

[twinkie]

So all of the lighting needs to be on the basking area? I haven't figured out how I will attach them yet. The top will have light diffuser on it so I hope I can just lay the lights in it.

Your setup looks really good. Thanks for sharing.

[Kansasslider]

I put the lights just on the basking area. However on my big tank in the basement I also have a light above the whole tank to light it during the day. This is my big tank.

[steve]

People have used planter hooks or ceiling hooks for their lights.

[Kansasslider]

As you can see the light is at 6500k and lights up the whole tank. Its also only a 13 watt cfl.

[twinkie]

Ok. I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to respond but we finally have a completed above tank basking area. I can post a picture if someone can explain how. I do have the two types of lights I was told to get, I hope they are correct. I don't understand how the lights being on/off for daytime and nighttime would affect so much since the room lights are on/off when we are awake and asleep. Does that make sense? As long as she got 4 or 5 hours of basking time (between 5-10) wouldn't she be fine?

[twinkie]

This is a picture of the tank and the over the tank basking area. This is before the turtle was put into it.

[steve]

Looks very nice, you guys did a great job.

As for the lights, a lot of us try to not to keep our lights on too late, as it might keep them up. You can also consider covering the sides after the turtle lights go off.

[twinkie]

Thank you. We turn them off around 10:00 but at 10:30 or so all the lights in the house go off, is that ok? The basking area sides are solid but not the tank. Should I cover the tank?

[twinkie]

I also thought of a few more questions. When she is basking she flicks/swats her arms and legs some. Almost like she's swatting flies (there aren't any flies) or she's getting too hot. Have you seen or heard of this before? She's always had a place to get out of the water but never a heater basking area and she's loving it but I'm just wondering why she's swatting.

Also, the people at the pet store said to not heat the water since she's never had heated water. One said don't put lights but two othes said do so I did. They are about 10" above her. Anyway, they said the lamps may heat the water enough. She's not swimming hardly at all. She is either on the basking dock or she's laying on the ramp. Do you know why she isn't swimming? Is she just not used to having much room to swim?

[twinkie]

My husband is afraid if we keep the water 78-80 degree it will make the living room (where the tank is) and house hot. Is that true?
One more question, her head is huge so it seems like I shouldn't feed her that much. She has no interest in veggies. I think her shell looks ok but I'm not sure. I can't imagine how she can be healthy with all the things I've done wrong. I put some lettuce in there. I put other veggies and she ate them the first day and that was all. I tried as a baby to feed them to her and she wouldn't eat them so until this site I just assumed she didn't like it.

Thanks for your time and I'm sorry I have so many questions. I am just changing everything about her care and I have tons of questions because I don't know what I'm doing. She even survived an ice storm, she is tough.

[Mom2RES]

Now that you have the warm basking area she might not be getting in the water if it is cool. They like to be warm, and I've read if the water is too cool they will stay out if they have a warm place to be. What is your water temperature?