General Care Discussion :: Question about Lighting

[Mister B]

I've had this baby turtle for about 3 months now. I have it living in a 20 gallon rubbermaid. Everything seems okay with it but he won't bask. I have everything including that bulb which is purpleish. I was wondering do you only have to use that bulb for basking?

[iac637]

Does the bulbs box say its a UVA or UVB or both?

[Mister B]

I don't remember I threw it away a long time ago.

[iac637]

I would go to the store and see what the box says you need to have a UVA UBA lights if you don't have them he might not be interested in basking. You might have to have 2 lights thats what we have to make sure we have a UVA and UVB.

[Mister B]

I remember the man at Petco getting the things I'd need to care for it so it might be both UVA and UVB. I'll go and buy a new bulb at Petco because I forgot what the box looked like. Also today he hasn't ate and been as active as he is. He'll only eat shrimp which I only feed once in a while. Sometimes he'll move out of his regular spot to go to another spot. If I shut the light off he'll start moving around swimming.

[Mister B]

Also can a regular light bulb give off any UVA or UVB rays?

[iac637]

you need to get him on pellets and veggies don't always trust the petco people I don't know of any bulb that is both that is blue. Look for ones that say UVA and UVB on them you don't need day and night bulbs

[Mister B]

He eats pellets everyday but sometimes I give him shrimp. But now he won't eat the pellets. Yesterday I gave him some carrots he took interest in them and tried to eat it.

[Mister B]

He takes interest in all food but won't eat the pellets.

[iac637]

try soaking them in tuna juice.

[Mister B]

OK I'll try that.

[iac637]

When I feed I feed in a seperate tank. If you do that then I would pour a little juice in the water then throw the pellets in there

[Mister B]

I don't have a seperate tank. Can't I just put it on the ramp where he basks and let him come to it?

[iac637]

no because they need the water turtles don't produce saliva. you can use a bucket or whatever to feed in a seperate tank then just dumpit at night.

[SpotsMama]

The main cause of refusing to bask is that the temperature at the basking spot isn't high enough. The basking temperature needs to be at least 10 degrees warmer than the water to motivate the turtle to get up and bask. Have you checked your temperatures - both on the basking platform and in the water - with a thermometer?

For a setup like yours you need to provide two lights. One will be for heat. It can be a regular household light bulb or one of the basking bulbs you get at the pet store. The heat bulb should be close enough to the basking platform to warm it up to 88 or 90 degrees, but not so close that the turtle can touch it and get burned, or splash water on it which would cause it to explode.

The second light is for UVB. It will also provide UVA if you're not already getting it from the heat bulb. The UVB bulb will be flourescent. It can be either a compact flourescent bulb or a tube flourecent, depending on your fixture. You can ONLY get this type of bulb at a pet store or pet supply place. The packaging MUST say how much UVB is being provided (like 10% or 5.0 for example). If it doesn't say how much then it's not providing enough to be useful.

Those bulbs fom the pet store that advertise that they are "full spectrum" or "basking" bulbs are suitable for your turtle's heat bulb but they do not provide the UVB that the turtle needs.