Three Toed Box turtle hiding when UVB light is on.

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fbsmith3

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I set up Cleo's, my three toed box turtle friends, new habitat with a new Zoomed UVB light and a few non-toxic live plant. It's set up just like recomended by the forums and Zoo-med 14" from the animal, paralell to the ground.

Here's the weird thing, whenever I turn on the UVB light she immediately hides. She is a very brave and friendly turtle, so this is extremely unusual.

Her set-up has always been near a window and near a "plant light" ( I have come to the conclusing is just an overpriced Florescent tube) so she always gets sun during the early spring and late fall. The summer are spent outside where she choses basking in the sun, swimming in her turtle pool, hiding in the leaves or hiding under shelter at her whim.

This year after reading these forums, I decided she should is not getting enough UVB since it is blocked by glass and the plant light is a marketing scam. So I modified her habitat to include the UVB light, for her post/pre-hibernation times.

Does anyone else have issues with thier box turtle hiding from the UVB light?

Please be brutal I will never be insulted, I just want what's best for her.
 

terryo

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I can only tell you what I've learned through the years and from my own experience. Box turtles do not like a lot of light. Think of the forest floor where they would be if they were in the wild. Their sunlight would be filtered through the trees. They would be walking through lots of leaf litter on the ground, and hiding under it during the hottest part of the day. My boxies come out in the morning to warm up and eat and swim or soak a bit. They spend the morning searching for food or in the pond. During the hottest part of the day, when the sun is at it's highest, they are mostly hidden under a plant, or in the leaf litter in their cave. They come out again in the late afternoon to eat and soak a bit more and then in for the night. When they are inside for the winter (the ones that are too small or under weight to hibernate) I keep a low light tube lamp on them. Box turtles like low light, warm humidity. Just how I do things.....hope this helps.
 

fbsmith3

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Actually it does, I think I will try using the light in the morning and the afternoon when she is used to sun being brighter due to the trees in our area. Those are the times when she likes to take her turtle baths and eat anyway.

The funny thing is when the light is on during a normal day she does a lot less damage to the plants. When the light is off she is a terror to the poor plants. Like I told my wife, they are her plants and she can do as she pleases. I am buying a bunch tomorrow. Hopefuly I will have some for her post Hibernation habitat.
 

Roxie

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I had the same experience with a MVB and my FL box turtle. The bulbs can be especially harsh with the beginning of the burn-in process. I switched back to fluorescent tubes, ZooMed 10.0 placed about 8-10" away and unobstructed my any screen, etc. Eventually I placed her outside and it has been a night and day difference with her.
 

yagyujubei

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It might just be very bright for her, and take a bit to get used to. Raise it up a bit, and see if she likes it better.
 

fbsmith3

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All is good now. I should have waited for her to get used to her "indoor habitat".

She has a specific shedule that she chose;
Morning eat pant matter, swim and poo, then bask in the "sun".
Late after noon forage for worms, swim and bask in "sun".

I have raised the "sun" light a little, I also keep the time to mimic outside light times. I still take her outside on nice days for real sun. Actually she is much more active now in ther indoor habitat, then she normally is outside. Maybe because her habitat is so humid that it mimics after a nice rainstorm.

Currently, she can only be outside supervised. The squirrels have dicided that her area is great place to bury nuts. The cats and dogs do not approve of the squirrels and will run after them. Normally the dogs andf cats avoid the turtle area, but the squirrels pose too good a chase.
 

fbsmith3

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Also, once in a while during the afternoon forage times, she makes a lot of noise. I always fear she is in trouble, once I check on her, she just stops and looks up at me. So I pick up some moss and show her the worms, she then forages for worms again.

I think Cleo has me trained well.
 
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