Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I reported my little boxie started spending more time in the cooler part of the tank and was eating less.

Since my responses, I added more light (with a bell-shaped worklamp with an incandescent bulb), and now the little guy/gal is in the warm Sphagnum again and has a large appetite.

....And, is beginning to look less like a baby, showing the creamy/tan color of the carapace more.

Good deal! Glad to hear the baby has perked up & is eating well.
^5!!
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PHRatz

Nice job! you solved your own riddle. More heat= more eat= growing hatchling
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

Just curious did you put that light on a timer and if so how long? Usually 12-14hrs will keep herps from getting sleepy, but sounds like your turtle is doing well and as the old saying goes and please excuse the slang ,"but if it aint broke don't try and fix it" Yes, you may call me a redneck now if you like.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

Hey Redneck!!

I are one myself
hee hee
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PHRatz

The additional, "new" light provides very little heat. All three lamps (heat, fluorescent UV, and regular tungsten) are on 14 hr per day. With the increased light intensity in the tank, the turtle spends more time in Sphagnum fairly close to where the heat lamp is focused.

14 hrs should definately keep them wide awake, the light you added is an incondesent isn't it? A simple 75watt incondesent light bulb puts out quite a bit of heat. Do you have a screen top or open top? if so you might think about how dry the air gets in winter with the furnace running, so at some point you might want to consider partially covering the top to maintain some humitity, and retain some heat. FFT
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

Actually, the regular tungsten bulb is 60 W and appears bright to serve the purpose, considering the change in behavior.

I don't have any cover over the tank to prevent drying, but the moss does stay very wet. The tank is at an angle, and I pour water in at the bottom end (where the turtle never dig in anyway), and eventually the water gets conducted through the moss to the other end of the tank.