Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have had my southern painted turtle for around two months. i started it off in a ten gallon aquarium with a small whisper filter, a flat rock for basking, and a fifty watt bulb. i asked a local pet store owner what i could put on the bottom of the tank to cover the glass and make things more natural for the my turtle. i bought some pea gravel and put it in the tank... a few days went by and i began to worry about the gravel being mistaken for food. the turtle seemed to do really well in this environment but i wanted to give it a bigger tank. recently i bought a seventy-five gallon aquarium, got some more rocks for basking, and a hundred-fifty watt bulb. (i decided not to put gravel in the bottom of the new aquarium.) for the first week the the turtle seemed to love the new tank. it swam around for hours. however a week later (last week) the turtle began to stay on the basking stone all hours of the day. i have had goldfish with the the turtle since the ten gallon tank... the goldfish do not seem to have any problems in the new seventy-five gallon tank. the turtle used to always chase them around but lately he doesn’t even watch them at all. very recently the turtle has began staying out of the water at all costs if a put it in to show it where food is it eats and gets back to the rock as quickly as possible. i just bought a fluval 204 filter, and thermometer and a rena top light excel 200 watt heater. I would just like to know what you believe correct water and air temperature are for a southern painted turtle. i plan on taking my turtle to a vet as soon as possible but i would just like to hear some opinions and get some help from fellow turtle owners.

thanks
Mark Martin

p.s. also how long should i keep the basking light on for?

First I would like to say, hooray for you and your BIG tank! I love it when turtles are in huge tanks! He wouldn't have been happy in the 10 gal tank for long. Also it was good that you got rid of the gravel because they can ingest them and get hurt or even die from it.
The light can be put on a timer and you can set it for 12 hours. That way it will be on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. It will automatically turn on and off so you don't have to do it. I find that this extends the life of the bulb too. You say that you have a light bulb but do you have a uvb bulb or just a regular bulb? He needs a uvb bulb along with a basking bulb (a regular light bulb works for a basking bulb).
What is the temp of the basking area and the water? The basking temp should be hotter than the water but the water should be in the upper 70's. If you think your turtle is getting sick then you can jack the water temp up to the mid 80's to boost his immune system and help him fight it off until you can get him to the vet. Listen to him and see if he is raspy. Check his nose for bubbles and check his eyes for swelling and redness, also puss in his eyes.
Good luck and keep us updated on his progress.