Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got back from a petstore that deals with animals like this and bought a good UVB light and some other stuff also got some advice on a better way too set up the tank. I hope this works I'm worried about the little guy even though since we got the turtle for our kids things didn't go as planned I'm learning alot. I also learned that the petstore where we bought the turtle should not of sold it knowing that we wer looking for a "pet" for our kids any turle like this under 3 inches aren't supposed too be sold as pets they are for educational and scientific (pardon my spelling) perposes only. Anyways I was wondering how long too leave the UVB light on each day would it be too much for the turtle if I left it on at night all night and turned it off in the morning? And should I put on the regular heat lamp after I switch them in the mornings?

You should leave both the UV light and the heat lamp on for about 12 hours every day and turn all light off at night. The turtles need a day/night cycle that is simulated by the lights.

thanks I'll switch how I'm doing the lights around

I'm sure you know this already...make sure that that heat lamp is over the basking/dry area of the tank to entice the trutle to come out to sun itself.

I use simple lamp timers from walmart for my heat and UVB lights. They cost about $7 each, and this way I never have to turn the lights on or off, and they are always on for the exact amount of time each day.
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