Basking

Turtles are essentially solar powered, they require UVB, UVA, visible light as well as heat to operate properly.

Turtles bask:

To heat their skin in order to capture D3
To increase their metabolism
To drive their natural rhythm and behavior
To manage fungal and bacterial infections
To manage viral infections
To heal wounds
To digest foods
For shedding
For parasite management

When they don’t bask, there is usually a discrepancy in temps, lighting or in their environment.

Turtles don’t regulate their own body temps. For this purpose, they bask under the heat lamp. Another reason why they bask is to heat their skin in order to be able to absorb UVB.

Both the lamps should be facing completely down over your dock. Regardless of your type of setup, your turtle will need enough space on their dock to move away from the heat. The warmest spot will be right under the beam. They will also move away from the UVB, the farther away from the beam, the lower the UVI. Sometimes, they move away from the heat after they have absorbed enough IR heat (especially if it’s too hot) and go under the UVB to absorb it as well. The closer to the beam, the higher the UVI. With the correct space, they can have a range instead of a constant UVI of 5 for example.

They also need a place to be completely away from either beam without going into the water. This gives them a place to stay dry without being under the beams. When selecting or constructing your docks, make sure to take this as well as height into account

Basking Ideas

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