Box turtle table water heating source?

[karlyholmes]

Okay I need something to heat the water in my turtles' table!
Its too cold for them and they wont get in it.
So... terrarium heating pad or submersible aquarium heater?!!
The materials cant get too hot because its wood and plastic.
Thoughts? Thanks so much.

 

[terryo]

Why is the water cold? What is the temp. in the enclosure? If the enclosure is warm and humid, then the water should be the same.

 

[karlyholmes]

Why is the water cold? What is the temp. in the enclosure? If the enclosure is warm and humid, then the water should be the same.

Well the heat lamp is over the basking rock and heats the middle of the enclosure. They go to the middle when the bask. I mist twice a day because its an open air table with the exception of the hide area which is covered. the water is on the opposite side of the table from the hide area and gets cold because of the air. The rest of the enclosure seems fine. 85-87 for the basking area. low 80s mid 70s in the hide area. I dont have a thermometer in the water but i know its too cool.

SO what should I get?

 

[terryo]

I keep mine differently. I have a long tube 5.0 UVB on a screen top and a 60 wt. heat emitter on a ceramic dome fixture. The rest of the top is covered with clear wrapping tape to hold in the humidity. I only have the one's that are too young to go outside in a planted vivarium in the house. Everyone does things differently, but I'm not a fan of open top tables for box turtles, unless of course they can't go outside.

 

[karlyholmes]

Well I got a heat lamp for the other side of the table which should also heat the water a bit- I keep the substrate very moist and they seem to do fine they just bury themselves. I do wish I could enclose the table more but I cant think of a way I could?

 

[terryo]

This is my favorite site for box turtles. Read the end of this page heating and lighting. You should read the whole site. Great pictures too.
http://turtle_tails.tripod.com/raisingbabyturtles/tour1.htm

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Karly:

I really don't think being cold is your water's problem. All of my box turtles live outside year round. Their water in the morning is quite cold...probably in the 50's or 60's (Fahrenheit) and yet, every morning, there are a couple or more of them sitting in the water.

What kind of waterer are you using? Maybe its not easy for them to use. But if you really think its the temperature, instead of thinking about heating the water, can you move it closer to the light? Not directly under the light, but closer?

 

[karlyholmes]

Hi Karly:

I really don't think being cold is your water's problem. All of my box turtles live outside year round. Their water in the morning is quite cold...probably in the 50's or 60's (Fahrenheit) and yet, every morning, there are a couple or more of them sitting in the water.

What kind of waterer are you using? Maybe its not easy for them to use. But if you really think its the temperature, instead of thinking about heating the water, can you move it closer to the light? Not directly under the light, but closer?

Yvonne, thats exactly what I ended up doing! I got a second heat lamp for the other side (the main one is UV and heat) this one is just heat. And I moved from a paint roller pan to a terracotta pot plate from Home Depot like Terry suggested They are now basking in it and going in and out frequently. The heat lamp keeps that side and the water more tempid so I think that was the problem. I hadnt noticed until now that they werent even GOING to that side of the table. Too cold!

---

Okay- Ive got some pics of my improved turtle enclosure. Let me know what you think?

 

[Yvonne G]

Okay- Ive got some pics of my improved turtle enclosure. Let me know what you think?

Ah-h-h...another one of those pretty invisible enclosures!

 

[karlyholmes]

Okay- Ive got some pics of my improved turtle enclosure. Let me know what you think?

Ah-h-h...another one of those pretty invisible enclosures!

Oh no I just forgot to mention that I made a new thread called "turtle table fixed" in the box turtle forum. Sorry I was not clear about that