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Hello all..
I recently decided to upgrade my turtle tank..this weekend I am moving her to a 20 gal rubbermaid until I can get her a 55 gal glass tank in a few months. I was wondering about basking and homemade basking spots. Does anyone use a large rock or bricks? I was looking at those turtle docks, and with my budget and the reviews I read, I wasn't interested.
Any help would be appreciated..thanks!
Bridget

pick up some supplies and make your own, that's the best route . i made mine out of a petco basket. if you check out the photo gallery forum, there are quite a few other people here that have home made basking spots, it's good to get ideas off of them. i think grey goose has the best basking spot, he is very crafty. he'd probably be able to give you some good advice, too.

Thanks..
I went back (before I posted) and saw lots and lots of basking spots..but none witha huge rock or bricks..I'm just going for something very cheap right now because I have very little money.

i spent less than $10 on my basking spot i simply let petco know i was taking the basket (i actually get teased for ''the great petco basket heist"), bought some of that rubbery kitchen contact stuff (i really need to find out what that's called) at the dollar store, bit of aquarium glue and some found items around the house. the aquarium glue was the most expensive. i used plexi glass to cover the walls, but i had already had that. it's fairly cheap, i bought a panel for $7.

Bricks and rocks take up too much space to build up into a basking area. If you want a custom fit, go with PVC pipe and ceramic tile... it's very inexpensive. If you're less handy, you can use a plastic step stool or something like a milk crate. Just make sure there is an incline so it can easily be accessible for your turtle.

Hey, I just upgraded Kokoro's basking spot as well. I made it out of pvc pipe then got a terra cotta 20cm by 20cm plate. I made a little ramp out of an old basking platform. Total cost was about 7 bucks and 1h of labor. Now she is completely scared of the platform HAHA

The floating docks are usually less than 10-15$ I think. I find it's easier than tooling around with making your own dock which may end up being less functional than you'd hope.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_ ... 36842&Ne=2
These are pretty cheap, and work relatively well for most turtles.

They've a bit of a design flaw, though. if you bought that dock you'd have to flip the anchor so the horizontal bar is under the dock and take the suction cups off the bottom. it's easy for a turtle to get stuck in that bar. also, there have been mentions of turtles trying to eat the dock. i myself have a preference for the above tank basking spot b/c It is easy to make and the only swimming space taken up is from the access ramp.

here are a few threads with some inexpensive ideas. my basking spot is in there as well, in all its stages.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9093

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8849

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6143

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6372

http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 745lp0.jpg

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8312

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=69962

Thanks for the advice and the links, I have some good ideas now.

With this thread I decided to go on a "make a budget basking spot" for my little turtle. I picked up some plastic cardboard form my school, bought some plastic corner bead (1.50), a "in tray" for A3 sized paper (3.40), astro turf (2.48) and some pvc pipe (6.73). Add in some dental floss and tape VOILA!

Dental floss??

That does look like an awesome basking platform. Nice job! But you gotta' explain the dental floss thing.

Aha!!! I see I have peaked someone's interest.
The dental floss (oral B Satin [unflavoured]) is to hold the piece of clear plastic as well as the green plastic cardboard together. I made 2 holes on each side of the corner bead and matched it to the cardboard and clear plastic. Then I just laced it together. I didn't want to use any adhesive of any kind.. SOOO... dental floss... strong as heck made my holes with a knife too hello low tech

lol! Very clever!

Yay. My dad found some old and clean bathroom tiles in the garage. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make a platform out of it...any suggestions?? I know I need pvc pipe and silicone, but I am not sure how to assemble it all. Right now Coby is loving her bricks, but it is only very TEMPORARY, and I have lots of free time now to make her a new platform.