All Turtles Message Board

kab134 · Level 1 Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 12

Hi Again!

Okay, so I just put a 75W spot light on my three turtles. I get TONS of sunlight in my place and the guy at the pet store said that I don't have to worry about light 'til the winter. I've had them since May, so this is the first time they're getting light from a bulb. They spend more time on the rock than in the water! Is this normal? I'm afraid they're going to dry themselves out! LOL

Also, I noticed some (how do I explain this?) "shell skin" (I'm assuming) floating around in the tank. It's clear-ish small squares I can only assume is from their shell. They look perfectly healthy and their shells are fine. Is this normal?

Lastly, I just saw two of them (how do I put THIS!?) uummm...eating their own poop. The certainly eat enough food, is THIS normal or do I just have strange turtles?

Thanks for your help!

toxiceagle2007 · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:47 pm Post subject:

Basking is pretty normal. Unless they are spending large amounts of time (like all day) on their basking rock. Mine bask from about 6 am to 10 am every morning. I guess its just their ritual. How hot is the basking area? I keep mine at about 90* F.

You said that you get a lot of natural sunlight. You probably still need a UV-A/B light bulb to provide the right light for the turtles. Sunlight will provide the right light rays, but windows and glass etc. will filter them out.

Your turtles are probably shedding scutes. As long as their shells aren't really discolored and soft, they should be fine.

Turtles eating their own poop is perfectly normal as disgusting as it sounds. Laughing

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