General Care Discussion :: This question is vexing me.

[Lothhen]

For the past week Raphaela has been at my parents' house, I was on spring break. I have since moved back to school and am bringing Raphaela to school with me soon. I have a question though. When I first got her I didnt have a water heater. The water was very cold. I have one now. But it took over 24 hours for the water in my tank to get up to the right temp. When I bring Raphaela to school with me I will have to completely empty out the tank of everything, basking area, heater, filter, and water. My question is should I put Raphaela into the tank when I get the tank set up with the heater again or should I put her in something else until the tank is back up to temp? The only other tank I have is a one gallon beta tank. The beta was my first pet but froze, I didnt know that such things as tank warmers existed. I dont want to put her in that. She would not be happy. My apartment gets in to the low 70's ambient temp. One of my roomates is from NJ so she keeps the temp very low.

I am sorry for the stray thoughts. I talk a lot and so it overflows into my typing.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Why don't you fill the tank with 78 degree warm water so you don't have to wait for the water to go up to that temperature? I would make sure the water is the right temp before putting the turtle in.

[Lothhen]

It looks so simple when you say it. Why couldnt I think of that last nite?

That just makes me feel silly now.

Thanks for reminding me that I can use the hot water facet to make the water warmer. I think I was just too tired to think.

[DavidY]

Umm, hot water from the tap usually contains excess copper, minerals and mineral salts due to the heating in the water heater. I'm not sure if this would have much affect on a turtle, but I know it's not recommended for humans to drink or cook with it, nor is it recommended for fish or amphibians.

You could try getting a gallon of bottled water from off the store shelf (room temperature) and putting Raphaela in a bowl of that until your tank water is up to room temperature. Then you could put her in the tank and let it gradually heat up the rest of the way.

Sooo you think low 70's is low for room temp, huh? I can relate to your roommate more. Up here in the Great White North of New Hampshire, I'm typing in my living room and room temperature is a balmy 63 degrees. And it's Spring! I like it cooler though, that's why I live up here. Florida is nice to visit though! Where did you go for spring break? You already live near the best beaches in the country!

[RunninWideOpen]

Yes, I used to use hot water from the tap, but I was directed to the "water quality" page on the main site. Read that and it will explain why not to do that.

[kikicool]

Just read the water quality page... I actually use hot water for cooking, and I do still use the warm water from my tap. Whoops!

Still, I would think that, this once, using hot water wouldn't be harmful. I imagine after all the traveling, it may be less stressful for her to just get back "home" as soon as she can. Other opinions?

What if you use warm water, and then each day over a week, empty and refill 10% with cold...

[SpotsMama]

Alternatively, you could fill the tank almost full with cold water then heat a gallon or two of cold water on the stove to almost boiling, then pour the hot water in the tank to raise the overall temperature. Just be careful to pour the hot water in slowly and don't let it touch the bottom or sides of the glass tank.

[marisa]

I fill the tank to about half full with cool water, then add pot fulls of very hot/near boiling water (not large pots---ones with handles) to the tank, spreading the water the length of the tank and not letting any of it hit the glass sides. And I monitor the temp with a thermometer.