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Hi. I hope I am allowed to post this, because technically, I have a question... but no tortoise yet. I am planing to get a RES soon.

I live in Singapore, and in the daytime the temperatures are about 80+ F degrees. In the morning (say, 5am, it's about 75-79, or so weather.com says.) I read that RES need 75-78F. Does this mean I still need a water heater?

I will be keeping it indoors, still trying to find a good spot that has less traffic, and won't be out in the night air (like my balcony, I live in an apartment building).

Also, this means I need two light sources - one for the UVA/UVB light and heat lamp for basking area, correct?

Sorry if this in the wrong place also

No, we love past, present, and future owners! And I have to plug trying to adopt a turtle if you can, but being in a different country, I don't know how things are there!

So, you may not end up needing a water heater, but you may need to address cooling the water down. Hopefully other more experienced members will show up and explain how to do this. You'll still want a thermometer to check the temps, and if it gets cooler for a season, you will need a heater, but for those temps, you're probably good.

Yes, you'll need both a UVA/heat bulb and a UVB bulb, unless you invest in a 55+ gallon tank and then you can buy a mercury vapor bulb. Sounds like you've done a lot of reading!

A turtle would love some of that Singapore sunshine... would you be able to take it outdoors a few times a week for an hour or so?

Your indoor setup will still require a basking light. Ways to "cool" the water might not be available to you (chillers, air conditioners) so I would try to find the coolest part of your apartment. A larger tank with more water is an option and some have mentioned blowing a fan over the water surface too. During heat waves I have to resort to partial water changes to keep temps down.

hi Kremmeh, i live in the Philippines. The temps here are quite the same with Singapore and I don't use a water heater because the temps are quite ideal for my turts.

I have a friend though who uses one because his room is air-conditioned.

Like steve said, if it gets really hot there, a bigger tank and partial water changes would be good.

Oh no! We don't really get heat waves very often. We had a cool spell recently, but it wasn't that cold - lowest it got was 21 degrees celsius at night. And it's not that hot. We have same temps all year round except monsoon season, then it gets a little cooler.

And yeah, I could probably spare some time and bring it outside for a bit. But I live in an apartment, not sure how much sunlight gets in my bedroom balcony. Some does (had plants there before) but not a WHOLE lot. Enough to concentrate on a basking area I think. Does that count as outdoors? And what if the sun doesn't come out? D:

I am starting tertiary eduation soon but I doubt I'd be THAT busy to neglect my turtle

Also, I read everything on this site and some others, because I want to be prepared for this new turtle (I'm not sure the term - tortoise, terrapin, turtle, but I use turtle to be convenient XD)

I don't think it's recommended to house the turtle near the window. Yes, it can provide some needed UVB (although if it's through a window or screen, it can be reduced to almost nothing), but you risk the water heating up too much and hurting the turtle. I think it'd be best to go with the artificial lighting in a cool room in your house and then take the turtle out in a small container to the sunlight while you're, say, reading for school.

yea. putting a tank near a window can also mean a lot of algae!

TheComputerGremlin wrote: I don't think it's recommended to house the turtle near the window. Yes, it can provide some needed UVB (although if it's through a window or screen, it can be reduced to almost nothing), but you risk the water heating up too much and hurting the turtle. I think it'd be best to go with the artificial lighting in a cool room in your house and then take the turtle out in a small container to the sunlight while you're, say, reading for school.

Yeah, that's my plan. Is it okay to let him run around my balcony during the sunning period? He won't fall off anywhere, it's closed up. It's big, about 2 M by 1 M. Can I let him explore the place and move around a bit? I clean it regularly and it's dry.

I was referring to heat waves over here.

Be aware they are excellent climbers, so make sure the barrier is smooth and the weather is good.

steve wrote:Be aware they are excellent climbers, so make sure the barrier is smooth and the weather is good.

XD It's about 1m of glass up, so I doubt he'll be doing any David Copperfield acts anytime soon.

I live in Singapore. I dont have water heaters. I cool torti's water twice a day with bottle of ice.