Basking Question

DBTerrapin / Forums / Diamondback Terrapins / Basking Question

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  • Miguel Ramos
    February 11, 2011 at 3:13 pm #22934

    Hello All, I’m new here and I recently became a proud concentic dbt pappa! 🙂 I’m not entirely sure of the subsepecies yet, but I think she (also not sure of the sex yet) is a Northern. She’s got a carapace of about 2.5″ to 3″ I would say, and I believe she is about 4-5 months old if the breeder I got her from remembered correctly. She’s in a 10g tank at the moment, but she will be moved to a bigger tank in a short time. Her water is at 78 degrees, give or take. I do have large aquarium gravel in the tank, but I will be switching to larger river rocks or filter sand when I put her in the bigger tank. I check her poop to see if any gravel come out and so far nothing. I have seen her nibble on some of the gravel a couple of times but she spits them right back out. She is a digger though. Anyway, my main concern is that she hasn’t been basking yet. It’s been a week but she doesn’t bask. She goes on the basking dock to retrieve her cuttlebone now and again, but she doesnt normally stay up there. I have a 50 Watt UVA/visible bulb in about 8-12″ away from the dock. I had it at about 6″ away but the reptile lady at petsmart it might be too hot for her since she’s still little. I am also in the market for a goob UVB lamp/bulb, so don’t worry. In the meantime, I bought a repcal calcium/vitamin d3 supplement that I sprinkle on her food a couple times per week. She is very inquisitive and lively and I find myself just sitting there watching her swim. Well if you are still here and managed to get through my winded post (sorry), I wanted to see if anyone had any advice. Is this normal? I know she’s still getting used to her tank, and maybe im just a worrywart. Thank you ahead of time for any/all advice. Miguel

    katelipman@comcast.net
    February 11, 2011 at 3:37 pm #22935

    #ygrps-yiv-1229224137 p {margin:0;}I used to worry about my dbts not basking enough, and I searched the data bases, and found I think, that, some just bask more than others, but that if you have it set up right, they bask when they need it. So, just check the parameters often, and don’t forget to replace bulbs when due, is what I’d say. One thing that helped me, was getting a thermometer that you aim at a surface, to see how hot the surface is getting. My basking area really varies in temperature in different parts; it is amazing! The thermometers come in quite a range of prices, which I am sure affects their accuracy, but I found a low/medium priced one online, and bought that, and am comfortable enough with that.Kate in California

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