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Hi. I live on the 2nd floor in an apartment building which can get quite hot in the summer, not to mention, the basking light on all day can make the room hotter. My question is, can it ever be too hot for the turtle?

Thanks.

>>Hi. I live on the 2nd floor in an apartment building which can get quite hot in the summer, not to mention, the basking light on all day can make the room hotter. My question is, can it ever be too hot for the turtle?
>>
>>Thanks.

I would need to know what your setup is before I could tell you what you should do about it, but yes, it can be too hot for the turtle.

I think there was a post recently about someone who cooked their turtle to death on accident.
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iturnrocks.com

He is in an 80 gallon tank, with a 150 watt heat light for basking, along with the flourescent light. I'm in NJ so its been very hot here, 90's and with the light on in the room, it's hotter. I did leave the air on for him today. Just want to know if its necessary.

Thank you.

150 watt basking bulb is too much. A regualr household bulb 40 or 60 watts above the basking rock is enough. The temp under the light should only be around 90 or 95 degrees. A heater in the water isnt nessecary in the summer (if there is no air conditioning).

Technically keep checking your water temps, because if the water maintains around 76-78 degrees, then you dont need the water heater anyhow. You have to make sure that your turtle has an ability to properly thermoregulate. That is most important. As far as basking lights, I would simply lower the wattage on the bulb. I am not sure about turtles and their needs for UV, but I personally dont use incandescent bulbs for turtles to provide them what they need from the UV rays the bulb offers. Temperature wise, incandescents would be fine, but they would not be good for offering the necessary UV rays.

Generally Ambient air temps of around 85-88 degrees, a basking temp of about 95 and no higher, and water temps of 76-78 should do him just fine.

Perhaps someone might have some documentation that could provide me (and anyone else that might be interested) some info about the importance of UV rays for aquatic turtles.

Hope this helps,

Chris

Get a good thermometer ( a digital one with a probe or even better, especially since this is an aquatic set up, a temp gun) if you dont already have one to monitor the tamps in his basking spot. You should always know how hot your turtle is getting since its impossible to tell just by the wattage of the bulb because of the difference in room temp. This will help you monitor temps and keep an eye on things.
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