Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi again

Now that the temps are making it necessary to bring her indoors per my last post, I am trying to mimick her outside enclosure on the inside. Here are my questions

Does she need a heat bulb of any type? The room stay at 72-74 all winter long. I do plan on using the Reptisun but read that heat is not necessary for them.

I have a large turtle tub and on one end have a mixture of potting soil, sand and shaghnom moss(?spelling)with some dried branches. I want to place a piece of plexiglass or something similar on top to keep the humidity in. Has anyone used the small water humidifiers made for reptile use and if so, do they really work? I would place it directly in the humidity area.

I am going to NARBC in October (I am excited-can't wait)and plan on picking up supplies then. I really wish I was comfortable hibernating her this year but I am not. I am happy to report she has finally put on weight.

Thanks in advance for your ongoing help
Linda

The temp range for three should be: 85-88 F/day, 70-75 F/night. Yeah, if you keep it in that range for day and night, you need supplemental heat. You can use space heater that you can buy from Walmart or Hompe Depot, like the ones people use for iguanas.

For humididty: if you keep the substrate moist their is no need of humidifier. It takes forever for the substrate to dry out since their is tons of it in my box turtle tub. Once in a while you let it dry out a little because of mold and fungus problems, especially if you use potting soil/sand mixture.

And, lastly, you can put the basking light directly over the water dish, so the water is a little warmer. They like it better...and they love eating in the water. I feed my baby the Reptomin sticks in the water and some other food, and then throw out it out and replace it.

Here is a good link for you:
http://www.boxturtlesite.info/

Should these temps be the ambient temps or the basking area temp? What about the temp gradient? I would think that keeping a box turtle at this temp constantly would cause a problem.

Please clarify

Thanks, Linda

Yes, those are ambient temp.... I've kept mine this way, and maybe a heat low wattage heat lamp over the top if they need to get a little warmer. I keep the water dish near the heat lamp, so the water is a little warmer. Hope this help!

Temperature gradient of 75F at one end and 85F allows a turtle to regulate its own body temps., and so works best in an indoor habitat.

I keep mine outdoors primarily, but should one have to be inside for any length of time, I make sure that they can cool off a little if they want, or warm up. They certainly utilize this set up. In my opinion, a fixed uniform temperature is not ideal.