Home › Forums › Diamondback Terrapins › Lighting for Basking
- This topic has 1 reply, 1 voice, and was last updated 20 years, 8 months ago by
Todd Stockwell.
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June 7, 2004 at 2:57 pm #19736
blaze4300
i just got my first DBT and i am doing all the research to set up his home, i just want to know more about lighting. what type of bulb (even brand name to search for) how many watts are needed? how many hours a day? is a spot light better than a strip light? is it needed everyday or can i just put it on, when i put him in his freshwater tank once a week. (Yes i am setting up a smaller seperate freshwater tank for him and keeping him mainly in a brakish system.) thanks in advance
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June 8, 2004 at 11:23 am #19739
Todd Stockwell
Lighting is a very controversial topic, so perhaps everyone is trying to ignore this one – he, he. You will need full-time lighting on the regular indoor tank on a timer set for 8 to 14 hours of light per day, depending on the season, to keep your turtle active and moving through a daily cycle of light and heat and darkness and cool. I’ve even started cycling my basking (heat) lamps on and off hourly during the day as it seems to get the turtles moving about rather than staying under the light all day. The new mercury vapor lights provide both light and heat and the most UVB rays of any artificial source. However, they’re expensive, don’t seem to last too long, and sometimes don’t work well on a timer. They also only come in higher wattages that are too hot for most small aquarium set ups. Whatever basking (heat) light you do select, be sure to use a reliable thermometer to actually measure the temperature of the basking site. Many veteran keepers have used GE Sunshine full spectrum flourescent tubes for UVB as they are much less expensive than reptile UVB bulbs, seem to burn much longer, and seem to have worked for turtles as well as any of the reptile-specific brands. I am personally using 50 watt halogen indoor/outdoor flood lamps for basking and 13 watt coiled self-ballasted flourescents (which conveniently screw into a standard light fixture eliminating the expense of a flourescent tube fixture). ESU has these new, very efficient, high-light-output coiled flourescents with UVB output. No artificial light source comes close to the UVBs of natural sunlight, so try to get your turtles out into full natural sunlight (not filtered through window glass) for any amount of time possible (even if only once a week in a temporary tub set outside). Just be careful NOT to overheat them when out in the natural sun. Keep asking questions and hopefully others will chime in. Good luck and welcome to dbts! Toddblaze4300
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