Reptile & Amphibian Forums

With new box turtle hatchlings, to be raised their first year indoors, under a Zoo-Med Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb.... what distance should be maintained between the turtles and bulb?

The bulb is effective to 20".... so is 10" too close? There will be nothing between the bulb and the turtles (other than a hide box)..... and my set-up permits the bulb to be set at any desirable height.

Thanks,

Jay

Just try to have some diffused dappled exposure, as in a latticework, for turtles to bask from under. They will expose themselves with spot illumination as they choose. They prefer to remain hidden, so it has a definite psychological benefit to allow them a mechanism to bask from under cover/while hidden. They like to remain with a couple of steps from cover.
Make sure they have plenty of moisture/humidity/water. Many people raise their baby box turtles in a semiaquatic environment.
Good luck.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

In the wild box turtle hatchlings stay hidden almost all of the first year of life, under leaf litter. They will eat any little bug they find under there. Make sure you have plenty of substrate for them to hide under. Moist high humidity is what you want. I keep mine is a vivarium with plenty of plants to hold the humidity. I crumble up a lot of dry leaves to make leaf litter like you would find under a tree in the woods. I keep a long tube UVB 5.0 over one side of the vivarium. No basking light. I keep a low wt. heat emitter on if the house is cold, but otherwise nothing but the long tube light. I throw in plenty of pill bugs for them to find and very small worms.

You don’t need to keep them inside the first year. As soon as they hatch I put them outside in a special pen just for them. It has to be extra secure because they are very good climbers. Also I have the top secure so nothing gets in. I hibernate them just like I do the adult turtles. I have never had a baby turtle die over the winter. It goes below freezing for 3-4 months each winter, were I live. I did keep some babies inside one winter. Unfortunately I could see that their shells were becoming slightly deformed, then I stated to keep them outside all year and I have never had that problem again. I have a friend who also keeps box turtles and he keeps the babies out side most of the time but when it comes time to hibernate, he puts them in a 5 gallon pail filled with dirt and leaves and keeps them in his basement. It works for him and he also has never lost a turtle in hibernation.

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Jack

Jack...I have some juvies...3 and 2 year olds...also a 1 year old, and I've never hibernated them that young. Could you post a picture where you hibernate your small ones, and how you do it. Thanks.

Yes. I agree. Outside is the best way to go. Just watch out for ants. Their food will definitely attract ants.

In fact, I would recommend leaving them in the nest if possible until spring. I have terrible luck getting them to feed their first fall. In Texas other turtle species (Texas Sliders for example) don't even come out of the nest until the spring rains allow them their freedom.

There is almost no instinct to feed at that age, before one hibernation/brumation period. After that, they really chow down.

If artificially incubated indoors, I would attempt a 30 day artificial/simulated cool down/brumation period (55F - 65F) for yolk absorption before attempting to feed. Just my thoughts.

Maintaining them at activity temperatures all winter long is hard to do. They either die, become ill, or have physiological developmental problems. My experience.

jsc

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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

"There is almost no instinct to feed at that age, before one hibernation/brumation period. After that, they really chow down."

I disagree.

My experience has shown that they can have great appetites...they can also stay active and feeding well after adults have started to go into brumation.

Thanks for all the input - but I really only wanted some advice on the UVB bulb-to-turtle distance. I've kept box turtles for nearly 40 years, so I'm not a novice. I've dug up nests and incubated, I've left them in the ground to fend for themselves, and I've dug, hatched, and released some and kept others inside for their first winter. I just haven't used a UVB bulb on them before - they were not widely available in the distant past.

Anyway, as soon as they start hatching, I'll shoot for a 12" distance at one end of the box. I kind of miss them when they hibernate over the winter, so this will give me some young ones to fool around with during the bleak days of cold and gray.

You'll need to be aware of a couple of things...heat output and light 'fall off'.

I would suggest starting out following the manufacturers recommendation and remember that fluorescent lights can and should be positioned closer to the subject than incandescent bulbs. If you find that the habitat overheats (more than 85F or so), then move the light away a little, but remember that having the light too far away will pretty much render it useless.

An ideal habitat (indoor or out) should have a temperature gradient (so the animal can adjust for itself) as well as light and shade.

Having one end of the habitat cooler and equipped with shady hiding spots will work.

Hope that helps.