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bulbs

22 16:20:41

Question
I purchased two turtles for my sons for Christmas--a red-bellied cooter and a yellow-bellied cooter.  One actually died today, and we've only had it since Christmas. My son is really upset, he is 11. I thought I did everything right--tank, filter, basking light.  He seemed to go into hibernation(didn't know that), and wasn't eating for weeks.  The other one seemed to go into hibernation also for a while, but recently seems like he came out of it.  He doesn't seem to want to eat.  I bought them small crickets, then mealworms. My question to you is I was told by Petco that I can use a regular light bulb as a basking light.  Is that correct? Also, is it vital to a turtle that they have a spot light on them?  When the turtle that died went into hibernation, he was on the dock under the spotlight.  Did that cook him?  My niece purchased her turtles in Myrtle Beach in the summer, and she has them in a little tank with no filter and no spot light, and they seem to be eating and thriving.  What am I doing wrong?

Answer
The most common reason for this is cold water.

Turtles want three things to thrive:

1. Good water- lots of clean, warm water. Aim for about 10 gallons of water per inch of shell length, warmed to 75-80F with a good water heater (if needed. Lamps rarely heat the water well enough.), and filtered with a large filter to make the water crystal clean.

2. Good sun- safe, accessible basking sites that are warmed to 90F, and a way to light the tank nicely while allowing shadier hiding places. Lights should be on for about 12-14 hours a day. UVB bulbs are great when possible!

3. Good food- about 1/2 good pellets, and 1/2 live or frozen/thawed 'fish food' like small fish, krill, worms, insects, beef heart, etc. Mealworms are not great options for most reptiles- the shell is hard to digest.



Turtles hibernate, usually when triggered by dropping temps and shortening days. We can overcome that with heating and lighting.

For some great care information, try http://www.redearslider.com