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I just noticed this recently, might have happened earlier though, but before i got the uvb bulb, i had just a uva heat bulb which worked fine, the turtles basked regularly. But whenever i turn on the uvb bulb in combination with the heat bulb, the turts just run back into the water. I never see them on the basking spot when the uvb light is on. With just the uva heat bulb on, they run into the basking spot and bask all day. To make sure it was the bulb, i left the uva heat bulb on, and the turtles came on to bask, then i turned on the uvb bulb and about 30 seconds later, they both run into the water. Is there something wrong? I am using the ESU Reptile Super UV Coil Lamp 13 Watt bulb. It is positioned at near 70-90 degree angle. The heat lamp is positioned at about the same angle.

How close are the bulbs to the basking turtles - in inches?

The heat bulb is approx. 7-9 inches away from the basking spot while the uvb bulb is approx 5-6 inches away from the basking spot.

Your UVB bulb is too close to the basking spot. Is it flourescent? If so, it should probably be 10" or 12" inches away. If it's a mercury vapor bulb, then it should be even further away.

What kind of bulb is it?

x3shift wrote:I never see them on the basking spot when the uvb light is on. With just the uva heat bulb on, they run into the basking spot and bask all day. To make sure it was the bulb, i left the uva heat bulb on, and the turtles came on to bask, then i turned on the uvb bulb and about 30 seconds later, they both run into the water. Is there something wrong? I am using the ESU Reptile Super UV Coil Lamp 13 Watt bulb.

The reason your turtles are basking when you put the heat light on is because the ESU Super is *only* a UV light; it does not provide heat. They need the heat to bask. Just be aware that the ESU Super provides 3% UVB and will need to be changed more often.

CountryGirl68 wrote:

x3shift wrote:I never see them on the basking spot when the uvb light is on. With just the uva heat bulb on, they run into the basking spot and bask all day. To make sure it was the bulb, i left the uva heat bulb on, and the turtles came on to bask, then i turned on the uvb bulb and about 30 seconds later, they both run into the water. Is there something wrong? I am using the ESU Reptile Super UV Coil Lamp 13 Watt bulb.

The reason your turtles are basking when you put the heat light on is because the ESU Super is *only* a UV light; it does not provide heat. They need the heat to bask. Just be aware that the ESU Super provides 3% UVB and will need to be changed more often.

i turn them both on at the same time...

That's good. They need the heat to entice them to bask. Since the ESU doesn't provide heat, having both lights on at the same time will give them the UVA, UVB and heat they need.

x3shift, do I understand correctly that when you have both the heat lamp and the UVB lamp on, the turtles run and hide? That they will only bask if you have just the heat lamp on with no UVB?

If that's the case, then I agree with you that it's a problem for them to never bask under the UVB bulb. They need good exposure to UVB to keep their shells strong and healthy.

What did the directions that came with the bulb say about the distance it should be from the turtle? I'm still worried that it's too close and that's what's alarming the turtles, but at the same time, the UVB output of that bulb is pretty weak, and if it's too far away then your turtles won't get the benefits.

x3shift, if the basking area temp was 88-90F, the distances you initially had them at were good and I wouldn't really change them, except to move the UVB light an about an inch or so further away (to 6-7 inches). As was mentioned, the ESU light gives off only 3% UVB, and having it further away than 6-8 inches would really cut down on the amount of UVB rays your turtle would receive.

Is the ESU in a reflector dome? I'm not sure what you mean by a 70-90 degree angle. Perhaps adjusting the angle would help.

i mention the angles because i was worried that if they looked directly into the bulb, it would cause some blindness(?). i think i'm just gonna go buy a better uvb bulb. thanks.

That's a good idea. 3% is really low. When you get a better bulb, check on the packaging what distance from the turtle it should be. If it's stronger, it will probably need to be further away than the one you have now.

The directions for light bulbs including UVB that I've seen say you should position the light so it shines directly down on the basking area - kind of like the sun at high noon. This way they won't look directly into it and it won't hurt them. Is that what you're doing with your light?

If you just got this bulb, then you can probably return it. If it comes down to it call the company and tell them 3% is a lil low. I got one of those bulbs initially and did some calling to the company and found 3-5% was the output, 5% was kinda rare as i understood. After some looking i moved to the Reptisun 10.0 self ballasted flourcent.