ahbramey
New Member
Hi! I have had a box turtle for probably roughly 15 or more years (I believe he's in his 30s - he was adopted from another family so unsure on exact age). After I became an adult and moved out, he has been living with my parents while I completed school and started my adult life, but I would like to take him now that I have stable housing and income. However, I am feeling worried about being able to keep the temperature regulated for him. My house does not have central air - I do have AC units in every room, but I don't turn them on unless I am in that room and it's too warm for me. I live on the east coast in a city where we have hot summers and cold winters. The thermostat downstairs says my house regularly goes above 80 degrees F on especially hot days (it's been as high as 87 before), and I'm sure it gets even warmer upstairs. I would like to keep him in one of the spare bedrooms on the second floor of my house so he has a quiet space. There is a window unit in that room but it doesn't have specific temperature settings on it (it's an old school one with a dial that goes from 1-10 and then you can choose the fan intensity). I am worried that he will overheat in his tank unless I keep the air running constantly in that room, which will obviously be costly. (I am feeling less worried about how cold that room will get in the winter because it's easier to keep him warm than to keep him cool even if I do have the heat set to a lower temp. For reference, when I have the heat on, the temp setting ranges between 65-69 F.)
I plan to get a thermometer for that room so I can see just how hot it's getting in there. But I'm wondering how specific others get with the temp of spaces they're keeping their turtles in? And what the highest temp I should let that room get is?
To tell you a bit about his current setup in case that helps: his tank is 18in wide x 36in long x 12in tall. He has a little house with a heating pad underneath and he spends most of his time in there. He has a shallow water source about 12 in in diameter. He has a basking area under a heat lamp. His substrate is corn pellets with newspaper lined underneath, along with some shredded newspaper for him since he likes to burrow in it. (I know there are probably things to be improved about his setup and can work on those things once he's in my care as well.) I don't believe my parents currently do or ever have done any kind of temperature tracking of his tank. They have central air and heat.
I plan to get a thermometer for that room so I can see just how hot it's getting in there. But I'm wondering how specific others get with the temp of spaces they're keeping their turtles in? And what the highest temp I should let that room get is?
To tell you a bit about his current setup in case that helps: his tank is 18in wide x 36in long x 12in tall. He has a little house with a heating pad underneath and he spends most of his time in there. He has a shallow water source about 12 in in diameter. He has a basking area under a heat lamp. His substrate is corn pellets with newspaper lined underneath, along with some shredded newspaper for him since he likes to burrow in it. (I know there are probably things to be improved about his setup and can work on those things once he's in my care as well.) I don't believe my parents currently do or ever have done any kind of temperature tracking of his tank. They have central air and heat.