Habitat - Indoor :: BASKING

[john x jro]

my turtle is spending like the whole day basking...is this normal or should i be worried hes gunna dry up?

[missibsu]

If he's just adjusting to his new set up, then basking more than usual is not uncommon. If you notice other signs with the basking, such as lathargy, wheezing, heavy breathing, open mouth breathing, then I would seek vet help as soon as you can. When I first got a basking area for my turtles, they basked constantly, so, I wouldn't worry just yet.

[turtledudee]

Mine are still adjusting but they aren't basking as much as they were the first day so i guess you could say its normal.

[daredevilgirl013]

My turtle basks all night when I have the basking lights on. I wake up a lot and she is always basking. So it's normal. She doesn't act funny or anything. In fact she'll fall asleep up there cause she is so content.

[marisa]

It sounds like you're keeping the lights on all night at least sometimes (?). Unless they're the red heat kind, they really should be turned off. Regular basking lights interfere with their sleep cycle. (She may be dozing, but I don't think it's the same kind of sleep she'd have if it were dark.)

[the_orphaned]

What is the wattage of the bulb that you guys would recommend?

As of now, I'm using 45 watts (just shifted from a halogen bulb) and my turt basks a lot less now than before. Not to mention the warm weather here has the tank water reaching up to 86F...

On a normal day, the water temp is at 82F...

But back when I was using the 25W halogen bulb, he would be bsaking for hours... now he just swims around and basks around 30 mintues. He's used to the people around here now and hardly pays attention to most of us when we are here when he's basking so i dont think privacy is much of an issue.

[Sally]

I don't think anyone can recommend a particular wattage because the effective temperature you'll see will depend on the distance of the bulb to the basking area, how much light is absorbed and reflected by the lamp casing, etc. The only thing you can really do is keep changing bulbs and measuring the temperature until it gets within a good range.

Saying you've gone from a 25 watt bulb to a 45 watt bulb doesn't say anything about what temperature your turtle is basking in. If your turtle doesn't seem to like the 45 watt bulb, go back to the 25 watt. Although the more immediate problem might be the water temperature- it's too high, no? That must be like 30C.

[the_orphaned]

cant do anything about that... unless i put ice on the tank. Its just too freakin' hot here in the Philippines... or If I bring him into the room... but Im dependent on the sun for his UV since they dont sell those bulbs here in the Philippines. But even indoors the temperature still reaches a 86F high.

Maybe that is also a reason as to why he hardly basks now... maybe the water temperature is high enough that he can have his metabolic processes going wthout basking too much.

What do you guys think?

[sonyj]

Usually when the water temp raises above the correct temp, people will put ice, cold water, or frozen water bottles in the tank to bring the temp down.

Water that is too warm can lead to excessive shedding and too fast of growth. It would be a good idea to devise a plan to keep the water temp down at least a little.

[ellman605]

My turtle basks all night when I have the basking lights on. I wake up a lot and she is always basking. So it's normal. She doesn't act funny or anything. In fact she'll fall asleep up there cause she is so content.

It sounds like you're keeping the lights on all night at least sometimes (?). Unless they're the red heat kind, they really should be turned off. Regular basking lights interfere with their sleep cycle. (She may be dozing, but I don't think it's the same kind of sleep she'd have if it were dark.)

I remember daredevilgirl once say that since shes in college and can't keep the lights on during the day she has to keep them on during the night, hence making the turtle active during the day and sleep during the night. Unless my memory sucks

[marisa]

You mean active during what is night and sleeping during the day? As long as the turtle has a regular sleep period. (Assuming what you remembered is true, you've got a pretty good memory. )