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I need u guys help!! I was tired of buying the ramps that usually mess up within a few months so I made my own here are some pictures!


http://photobucket.com/albums/e93/Jrob898/Aquarium/

Now I dont kno if they cant get up into it or if they are scared.....But I think they need a bigger ramp but I dont kno what to use!!! can someone help me !! IM LOST!!!!!!

My guess is that they are scared. It will take them time to adjust to most anything new in their environment and especially a new basking area. What you might want to do is cover up the sides of the basking area so they don't feel so exposed. At least the ones in the front and the one end. Give them some privacy. What is the main surface made from?

the main surface is made of plexiglass.....I am goin later to get some reptile carpet to put over it so they wont slide around....I thought about covering up the sides.......I guess if they dont bask by the end of the day Ill cover it up!

How long has the new dock been in place? It may take a few days for them to get used to it. Have you checked out the temp?

It looks nice. Maybe it's just the pic, but does the ramp extend all the way to the side of the tank?

You might want to add some texture to the basking area rather than leave it plain plexiglass (siliconing some strips of corkbark on it, for example)---it would help their plastrons dry off better.

Putting something around the back and at least part of the sides (aquarium background, for example) would give them more privacy, and make them more willing to bask.

What's the temp of the water and basking area? What kind of light are you using? A mercury vapor bulb?

How steep is the incline? You might "test" it by holding a pellet in front of them (or individually), slowly moving up the ramp to the basking area and see they/each turtle have/has a hard time getting up it to get to the food (assuming they'll eat from your hand in the first place....).

BTW, what is that turtle on the left in the third pic?

I got some of that stuff that you line your drawers with in the kitchen to keep stuff from sliding around and put it over the plexiglass......Looks ALOT better ....The water temp is about 76 and the basking temp is about 88....and HAHA the turtle on the left that looks sideways in the 3rd pic is a plastic turtle...everynight when they go to sleep they always pile up on it then go to sleep!!

I only see one turtle in your pictures, where are the others. How many others are there? That tank doesn't look big enough for more than one turtle of that size.

How are your turtles getting UV light? The plexiglass will block the UV from getting to them when they are in the water.

This is a neat idea, but turtles kept indoors need to have UV light all the time, not just when basking.

Behind the box I have another UVB light that shines down into the water...so they have a UVb shining in the water and one in the basking area..

But, is there plexi or glass between them and the UV light?

Pardon the question, I'm just trying to picture it.

Hi Skdbrd. You're basking area is pretty nice. I'm trying to do something very similar and I'm doing it for the exact same reason. Besides the plastic ramps that I use in the 29G, those Zoo-Med docks that I'm currently using in my 55G is pure garbage in my opinion. It doesn't offer great stability, it doesn't offer my turtle a complete dry land, and it breaks easily. I'm just planning to buy a 10G tank or 20G High tank and just crack the bottom layer of the glass and put in on top of a 55G (half of it @ 24x12). However, I'm still trying to decide what's the best way to stabilize the tank. I also have to factor in the weight. An empty 10G tank is around 21lbs and an empty 20G High tank is about 25lbs. I wonder if the 55G can support that? How stable is the basking area for your tank? It seems that you just designed it so it just leans on top of the tank. If that's the case, it's kind of unstable but since your basking area is made of wood mostly, it won't matter as much unless your poor turtle is inside it when that happens. But since I'm planning to use a all-glass tank, I can't take that chance that the whole tank would flip over and shatter into pieces. I thought about glueing it but that's just a waste of a good tank, will be hard to clean, and simply not convenient. I'm open to suggestions and/or opinions from anyone.

For the flooring, I'm planning to get something like the picture below but with bigger square holes so that any remaining UVB can possibly penetrate and hit the water. I will glue that to the bottom frame where the removed glass use to be. Does anyone know the name of this rubber flooring which I've seen at playgrounds, swimming pools, basketball courts, and etc? As for a ramp, I'm still trying to decide that part.

I was under the impression that water filters out the UVB so why do you need one over the water? I've read that you should have nothing between the uvb rays and the turtle, be it glass, plexiglass, plastic or anything, that it should be direct. The bulbs you get are so weak that the rays really can't penetrate far into the water, well unless you get a really expensive mercury vapor bulb, I think those go down into the water some

well the box on top of mine sets jus inside of the Lip around the top if the aquarium.....It suprised me Its VERY stable.... there is about 4 inches of space between the back of the box and the back of the aquarium so thats where the 2nd uvb light is, along with the basking bulb and UVb on top of the basking box.....All together it was about 30 bucks for the Plexiglass wood and cutter to cut the plexiglass........BROOKLYN you could use jus about anything for the flooring jus as long as the turts can get traction and pull their selves up inside the box.....I made the ramp out if the plexiglass and put the stickers on it that you put in the bottom of the Bathtub so us people dont slide...and they seem to have no problem gettin in and out.........