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hello!
i'm unsure of how important the light timing really is. i have the turtle light (UVA/UVB and heat) on for the even 12 hrs each day, but my question is do the lights in the room need to follow the same schedule? i was pondering this last night, when (this is not the first time i have made this mistake) i watched a horror movie way too close to bedtime. as such, i couldn't quite convince myself to turn off all the lights in my room. girly... yes. i am only admitting this to make sure my turtle isn't damaged along with my reputation... also, this week is finals week for me and there are sure to be some late nights and early mornings. i try to shadow the tank as well as i can but i think the movement wakes him up. am i sleep depriving my turtle? i would move him to another room... but, being in the dorm...
anywho, i'm moving this week and it won't continue to be a problem. but...uh... in case of this similar scenario, and assuming the turtle is still too small to successfully fight off evil things.. lol.

I wouldn't worry about it. I've sometimes left the living room light on all night and just shut off the turtle's lamp. Didn't seem to phase them. Sometimes I see them sleeping in the middle of the day anyway so I doubt it interrupts their cycle. As long as there is a day/night cycle, it's fine.

Definitely try to dim the area around them, even cover the sides for them... and try not to scream when watching those movies

If you're going to be keeping the lights on in the room they're in, you could just throw a towel/cloth over a good portion of the tank to block the light so they can sleep.

Thank you all very much!
i hadn't thought of the towel, that would work well. i made sort of a cave out of boxes to block out most of the light but he seems to always be awake when i go over there. but he seems to still be really energetic so he must be sleeping sometime! he has just recently started this new begging thing where if he knows i'm getting out food he'll swim up and claw on the side of the tank like crazy, stretching his little neck as high as it'll go... it's the funniest thing to watch, like a kid jumping up and down in excitement. it certainly works though, i find myself hurrying when he does that!