Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi! Im new here I come from Norway and i'm 15 years old soon.
I only own one turtle, Frida, a trachemys scripta scripta female at about 8 years. I've had her for about 4 years now, and she's about full grown, she's 12,5 centimeters. But now to the case:
I have just bought her a new aquaria on 100 gallon , i have all the equipment without the basking spot, and now i'm wondering if anybody knows about a good way to build a platform of glass,eventually a plexi glass platform which i'm going to silicone into a corner of the aquaria. The aquaria is 150 centimeters, and i'm going to use above 20-30 centimeters of the space as a basking platform, as i'm going to buy another turt later. I wonder if the platform is stuck at the point i silicone it to, if i silicone the glass right on the glass? My english is not the best in the world, so it's possible that you dont understand everything of what i have written, but i think you are going to understand it lol

Freddy

Heres my old platform. It sits on the lip of the tank. The climbing area is sold as some kind of needlepoint thing at walmart( its basically plastic screen)

When my turtle got larger, his weight was too much for the flexible screen, so I bent a piece of plexiglass and attached the screen to that providing a slip free platform.

Im guessing by your description you are one who chooses to only use half of the tank by not filling it all the way up.

What I have seen people do in that case is silicone a piece of glass at an angle to one side of the tank creating a pocket, then filling the pocket with stones or some other substrate.

The drawing below demonstrates the general idea

-----
_____

iturnrocks.com

Hmmm... I have tought of that one... But will my Frida climb onto it? I have tried with some kind of corkbark before, but it was to
right, if you see? The platform i was thinking of was some kind of glass plate, with a stair of glass down under the water. But i wonder if the silicone will hold it stuck if it's putted right on the glass?

Freddy

Greetings,

I melted a piece of plexi glass in my oven to make "U" shape, then put a flat rock on top of it to make a basking place.

I am not sure about using silcon to glue it, sorry.

-Ravon

Are those real plants in there or fake? It looks very nice!
-----
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals"
--Immanual Kant

------------------------------
1 Dog (Tyson)
1 RES (Sigmund)
1 Hamster (Lenore)

Aquarium silicone will hold underwater, but I wouldnt use glass....it is slippery and turtles need something to dig their claws into. Also I think my little tanks would break it, they like banging stuff around in the tank. I have used cork bark and it worked for a few months until it got waterlogged. Now I have a basking platform by zoomed.

Oh, the other problem with a static basking area is that you will have to constantly add water to keep the water level the same. With a floating basking area it moves with the water level as it fluctuates.
-----
A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04
1 common musk turtle hatchling

I built a plexiglass platform for my aquarium recently. Silicone cut-off plastic tent stakes to us as T-brackets to the side of the tank. Bent the end of the plexiglass as a ramp and put small diameter river rocks on top to hold it in place. Works very well. I made a drawing of it, but can't post it because it's not a .jpg pic. I can email it to you if you like. Just need an address.
-----
1 RES
2 pain in the butt cats

Hi! I have tried the zoomed's platform, and it was something crap! i use it now and sha has broken it, and biten through the platform at the side!! i know this sounds crazy, but it's true, and i dont think i'm going to use it again The other idea i'm wondering of, just the same as iturnrocks said: But will my turtle make it onto it? will'nt she just fall down from it, cause i've tried something which was to steep and she fell of it . So i dont wanna build something she cant get onto, if you see, cause that will not be smart if i have to demolish it after i've set it up .My e-mail is:

fredrikor@hotmail.com

I wasthinking of iturtnrock's idea but i dont know what to use as a ladder down to the water if you know about what to use it would be nice

Freddy

>>I wasthinking of iturtnrock's idea but i dont know what to use as a ladder down to the water if you know about what to use it would be nice
>>
>>Freddy

Here are a couple new ideas. The first image is the same as the other, except now the glass is open on the bottom and the water level can fill above the top of the divider, allowing easier access to climb on whatever you put behind the divider.

The second idea is to silicone the divider at different angle and allow the fill of the water to cover one side providing easy access to the basking area. I personally wouldnt use this method because it will limit your access to the tank below it. One way around that would be to attach some kind of clip to the wall of the tank, allowing you to remove the divider if necessary.

-----
_____

iturnrocks.com