Just wondering, I know that a turtle's basking lights shouldn't be on any longer than 12 hours, and should mimic the times and amount of light from the actual sun, but on average, how much time of light is best for a RES turtle? 8 hours? 10? 6? I am currently going under Daylight Savings (as with most of you), so the sun rises perpetually late, and sets early every day, this would mean in actuality, the basking lights wouldn't be on too much.
Currently where I live, the sun rises at about 8-9 am, and sets indefinetely at 4:30 pm, so if I mimicked these times, would I be giving my turtles too little light? Also would having the timer switch the lights on at 8 am be too early, since most of my turtles are asleep until 9-10 am. My turtles usually shut down from 9-11 pm (of course I have the living room lights on some days, and off others, so they don't go to sleep in a routine). And I was thinking, to mimic natural settings, during the winter, most wild turtles would actually be hibernating, so they wouldn't need to worry about when the sun rises or not, so...
What are the best average times to have the lights on, and how long, or what works best for the most of you?
Lastly, I would like to know if I should, or need any additional lightning on the rest of the tank, the area away from the basking area, since outside of the basking area, the rest of the tank is rather dark and dim, from no other light source, unless I should have a few dark areas for turtle privacy. If so, can a regular light fixture work, or do I also need a special form of light for this other area lighting?
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