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I bought it a couple of days ago for my 55 gallon. I put it around 8 inches from the basking area. Now today when I got home, I saw two of my small painted turtles on them. There eyes looked extremely puff and it had a white outline. So I got them into the water and they still had their eyes temporary closed.
I have never had that happen to my turtles during basking.
It is only with the aluminum reflect uvb 10 compact that it happened. I am thinking that maybe it is too strong although I already put it 8 inches away. I am hoping that they were just in a deep sleep. It took almost 10 minutes for one of my turtles to completely open his eyes.
Tell me about your experience with reptisun 10 compact uvb. And also can there be other reasons for its behavior?
I use the ReptiSun 10.0 compact at about 6 inches away from the basking area. I believe the white stuff you're seeing might be due to lack of humidity in the air as well as just their eyes drying out. My turtles get it occasionally too. UV bulbs are fine as long as they're not closer than 6 inches to the basking platform.
As far as I'm aware as long as the bulb is at least 6 inches away you're turtles aren't in any danger from it.
The puffy eyes could also be a vitamin A deficiency...have you changed their diet at all recently? Or have their eating habits changed at all?
No, the white puffy eye happened only today. There diet has been normal. Everything else is normal. I don't know what to do. I've been trying to give my turtles the best I could but it seems like I am doing more harm. I dont think its Vitamin A deficieny since it only occured today and I just got the tube.
What were you using for a UV bulb before you got the compact bulb? It's also possible that what you're seeing is a delayed reaction caused by something else and purely coincidental to the addition of the new bulb. Do they get plenty of vitamin A in their diet? What kind of filter do you use and how's the clarity of the water? It's also possible that what you're seeing is the onset of an eye infection. You might want to take them to a vet just to be safe. A checkup can't hurt, and will most definitely make you feel better regardless of what the vet says; if nothing is wrong then that's great, if there is some kind of problem you'll get a head start on curing them and reversing the condition.
I'm not questioning your husbandry, just trying to throw out ideas that might lead to a possible solution.
Well, the water is totally clean. My two turtles that were on the basking area are doing fine. One of my turtle still has his eye lids covered while he swims. I am starting to get really worried. But thanks for your help.
They do sometimes swim with their eyes closed, at least mine do. Especially after they've been basking for a long time or after they've been sleeping, they'll swim with their eyes closed. I'm not sure that this is something that you should be worried about, but if it would make you feel better then take the turtle to the vet. It definitely won't hurt to get the turtle checked out.
As a side note, how many turtles are living in this 55 gallon tank, and how big are they? Is it possible that they all can't bask given the room that they have? That could definitely lead to eye problems if that one turtle can't bask properly.
I have four very small turtles in there. They are about an inch. No I have more than enough room for them to bask in. I also have another platform for them that I havent put on because they have a lot of room. I put the water fairly deep. The water looks very very clear. The water temperature is about 75-77. The basking temperate is around 85 though the temperature if you touch the platform is around 95-100.
I am a bit relieved to hear that sometimes your turtles swim with eyes close because thats how mine is doing right now. I was really afraid and sad but now I feel a bit better.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the temperature when touching the platform is 95-100 degrees, but it shouldn't be any more than 90 degrees. I use a digital thermometer that I set directly on the basking platform. I try to get mine to stabilize at 88 degrees, because the height of the turtle will raise that temp to right about 90 degrees. If your basking area is between 95 and 100 degrees, that's way too high and you are risking dehydrating your turtles. Try to get it so that it's not much more than 10 degrees higher than the water temperature (I keep my water temperature at 78 degrees in the winter months, only because the room temperature is much colder than in the summer, obviously). All you need to do is make it warm enough to entice them to bask, and ten degrees warmer is generally all the difference that's needed to accomplish that.
Good luck, and keep us posted on what's happening with your babies.
I have the zoomed turtle log. When i put the thermeter right on the log it reads over 100. But when i lift the thermeter a little off the log about 1mm, then it is around 85. I think the log absorbs the heat and so it makes it other than air temperature. I hope I am not frying the turtles. I am using a 40 watt incandescent bulb around 8 inches away.
Polished or brushed aluminium reflectors approx. double the UVB output. Here is a link with very good stats about many comon UVB bulbs.
I have never had that happen to my turtles during basking.
It is only with the aluminum reflect uvb 10 compact that it happened. I am thinking that maybe it is too strong although I already put it 8 inches away. I am hoping that they were just in a deep sleep. It took almost 10 minutes for one of my turtles to completely open his eyes.
Tell me about your experience with reptisun 10 compact uvb. And also can there be other reasons for its behavior?
I use the ReptiSun 10.0 compact at about 6 inches away from the basking area. I believe the white stuff you're seeing might be due to lack of humidity in the air as well as just their eyes drying out. My turtles get it occasionally too. UV bulbs are fine as long as they're not closer than 6 inches to the basking platform.
As far as I'm aware as long as the bulb is at least 6 inches away you're turtles aren't in any danger from it.
The puffy eyes could also be a vitamin A deficiency...have you changed their diet at all recently? Or have their eating habits changed at all?
No, the white puffy eye happened only today. There diet has been normal. Everything else is normal. I don't know what to do. I've been trying to give my turtles the best I could but it seems like I am doing more harm. I dont think its Vitamin A deficieny since it only occured today and I just got the tube.
What were you using for a UV bulb before you got the compact bulb? It's also possible that what you're seeing is a delayed reaction caused by something else and purely coincidental to the addition of the new bulb. Do they get plenty of vitamin A in their diet? What kind of filter do you use and how's the clarity of the water? It's also possible that what you're seeing is the onset of an eye infection. You might want to take them to a vet just to be safe. A checkup can't hurt, and will most definitely make you feel better regardless of what the vet says; if nothing is wrong then that's great, if there is some kind of problem you'll get a head start on curing them and reversing the condition.
I'm not questioning your husbandry, just trying to throw out ideas that might lead to a possible solution.
Well, the water is totally clean. My two turtles that were on the basking area are doing fine. One of my turtle still has his eye lids covered while he swims. I am starting to get really worried. But thanks for your help.
They do sometimes swim with their eyes closed, at least mine do. Especially after they've been basking for a long time or after they've been sleeping, they'll swim with their eyes closed. I'm not sure that this is something that you should be worried about, but if it would make you feel better then take the turtle to the vet. It definitely won't hurt to get the turtle checked out.
As a side note, how many turtles are living in this 55 gallon tank, and how big are they? Is it possible that they all can't bask given the room that they have? That could definitely lead to eye problems if that one turtle can't bask properly.
I have four very small turtles in there. They are about an inch. No I have more than enough room for them to bask in. I also have another platform for them that I havent put on because they have a lot of room. I put the water fairly deep. The water looks very very clear. The water temperature is about 75-77. The basking temperate is around 85 though the temperature if you touch the platform is around 95-100.
I am a bit relieved to hear that sometimes your turtles swim with eyes close because thats how mine is doing right now. I was really afraid and sad but now I feel a bit better.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the temperature when touching the platform is 95-100 degrees, but it shouldn't be any more than 90 degrees. I use a digital thermometer that I set directly on the basking platform. I try to get mine to stabilize at 88 degrees, because the height of the turtle will raise that temp to right about 90 degrees. If your basking area is between 95 and 100 degrees, that's way too high and you are risking dehydrating your turtles. Try to get it so that it's not much more than 10 degrees higher than the water temperature (I keep my water temperature at 78 degrees in the winter months, only because the room temperature is much colder than in the summer, obviously). All you need to do is make it warm enough to entice them to bask, and ten degrees warmer is generally all the difference that's needed to accomplish that.
Good luck, and keep us posted on what's happening with your babies.
I have the zoomed turtle log. When i put the thermeter right on the log it reads over 100. But when i lift the thermeter a little off the log about 1mm, then it is around 85. I think the log absorbs the heat and so it makes it other than air temperature. I hope I am not frying the turtles. I am using a 40 watt incandescent bulb around 8 inches away.
Polished or brushed aluminium reflectors approx. double the UVB output. Here is a link with very good stats about many comon UVB bulbs.
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