This is called the Superman pose...
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No, it's Hoku...😂
[music]
Hey guys! Welcome back to the channel. It's the Turtle Girl!
Today, we're talking about basking areas.
So you might remember that a couple of weeks ago...well, more like several weeks ago
You might remember that some time ago, we talked about lighting and heating
and we discussed basking lighting and such,
but we really didn't discuss the different types of basking areas - so that's what we're gonna be talking about today.
So let's just jump right into this - There are four main types of basking areas.
Let's start with the first kind:
the normal store bought basking platforms that are floating,
so the ones that either suction-cup to the side of the wall or those that
stand inside the tank and then the platform itself can float up and down to accommodate the water level.
There are a couple things that I like about these, and a couple of things I don't. So first of all,
They're usually pretty common and easy to find and are generally pretty inexpensive.
They're also readily available for the normal turtle person.
You can just walk into a pet store, get one of these, and have it done with.
But there are a couple of drawbacks to this style of basking area.
The biggest one, I think, is that
these floating basking docks can't really hold large turtles -
even turtles bigger than just 3 or 4 inches. Once they hit that mark,
the basking platform will start sinking and that doesn't really work....
So after your turtle gets larger, this platform will automatically not work for you,
just because of the floating aspect. Also, because the platform is inside the tank
you can only fill the tank halfway.
As I discussed in the choosing the tank video,
you don't want to fill the tank halfway unless you have a baby turtle.
And even then, because a lot of turtles are really great swimmers, they don't need
shallow water. So just by limiting the amount of water you can fill the tank up to
that will just put more stress on your filter and there's less room for the turtles to swim around.
I think the common suction cup ones are actually made out of a foam type material
and turtles have eaten this and gotten very, very, sick and impacted because they tried to bite the basking platform.
So they can actually eat the material and that's not a good thing either.
There was one more thing that I wanted to mention about the suction cup basking platforms.
So there's a space in between the platform where the suction cups actually
stick onto the glass.
So in between that gap, turtles can also get stuck - and if they get stuck in the wrong way
like if they're trying to get down from the basking area but they put their head under water,
they could drown. So that is another hazard with these basking platforms.
Now full disclaimer:
I have never owned one of these because of the reasons I'm telling you right now.
So that's why I decided not to get one, but I was part of this turtle community and
pretty much every week, there was a case of someone who got a basking platform
and it just didn't work for them for any of these reasons mentioned.
Also in the floating basking dock category are DIY basking platforms.
Now DIY is pretty general because it's do-it-yourself and you can do it however you want.
But one of the most common types of DIY floating basking platforms or
areas that are standing in the water are egg crate basking platforms.
Now these are great because
you can make it any size you want. You can make sure that the turtle won't get stuck in any gaps.
You can make sure that the turtle will be able to support itself on that basking platform.
And you can get make an egg crate basking platform with PVC pipe and then
make it to the right height that you want it and it'll just stay there, and then the turtle won't sink if it's too heavy.
But you still have the same problem in that you can't fill your tank all the way up, unless you want an escapee.
And it is not fun to deal with a lost turtle... I'm telling you from experience.
So that is one of the biggest drawbacks with basking platforms that are inside the tank -
They just don't allow you to fill your tank all the way up.
So now let's move on to the other types of basking platforms. Next up, we have the
above tank basking area, which is also known as a turtle topper.
What it does is it sits on the rim of the tank and
it has a ramp that goes into the water and your turtle can come out onto this.
You can either get the store-bought or DIY type turtle topper. First let's talk about store-bought.
These are great. A lot of the styles that are available cost thirty or forty dollars and
they are pretty sturdy.
I've seen some with pretty good reviews, and the greatest thing with these above tank basking areas is that
first of all, they allow you to fill the tank all the way up. In fact, if the
tank ISN'T filled all the way up, it won't work.
So you can maximize the amount of swimming space you have for your turtle by using an above tank basking area.
Also, you can make it so that you can have really big turtles use it and go up.
There are huge above tank basking areas that I've seen that are super cool and
they take up the whole footprint of the tank up top, so that the turtle can have all the space around there to choose what
temperature he wants to be in - so they can thermoregulate and decide if they want to be directly under the heat basking light
so they can get all that warmth, or if they want to be a little bit farther away.
So there's really no drawbacks to this,
except that you do need to have overhead room above the tank, and then you have to
find a place to screw in your basking lights...but I just screwed mine into the wall and
it's not a problem for me, but you just need to keep in mind that it takes up space outside the tank, but
otherwise I love these! For the DIY ones, it's even better because you can make it whatever size you want.
And like this one here, you can make them for super cheap, and if you're frugal like me, that's like a really big thing.
I made this plastic bin basking area, [for which I have a tutorial if you click the button somewhere around here]
but this one I made for only $6...maybe $7 or $8.
And it's not that hard to make either. It can really to be a simple thing.
So that's pretty much it about the different types of basking areas, and my thoughts on them.
Basking is really important, your turtle needs a place to come out of the water and
get dry, even if you don't have basking lights at the moment. Try to get those soon as possible of course,
but they need a place to get dry because that will keep their shell healthy and so that the shell isn't always
moist - because that's how shell rot happens...they don't have their proper lighting and then they don't have a place
to get completely dry. You wouldn't want to put a substrate in the basking area because that would hold moisture.
So you wouldn't put sand in your basking area, maybe dirt, but only if you're trying to get them to lay eggs...
but that's another topic. Basically,
you want the water that they bring up into the basking area with them
to be able to evaporate and
not be held within the basking area, so that they can get completely dry up there.
That's really important about a basking area.
So basking areas are a really important thing with turtles, just keep these things in mind when trying to pick one out.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video, remember that I'm uploading another turtle 101 video every other Friday, so not this week
but the next, will be another turtle 101 video. Thank you guys so much for watching! If you enjoyed,
please give a huge thumbs up. You know the drill, comment, like, subscribe, and I'll see you guys next Friday.
Have a turtle awesome day! Love you guys, bye!