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I help manage a night club. This means most the time im awake all night, and sleep all (or most) the day.

i know its selfish but i would like the turtles light on my schedule. you know, so i can see them in the tank and enjoy their turtlieness.

is the time you put the lights on important, or just the amount of time that they are on?

Nah, just make sure during the day the room is dark.

I know someone on the forums did that because they were in school. It won't make a difference to them.

If you are going to try this, do it gradually, maybe everyday shift the timer an hour foward. Keep an eye out for any signs of stress.

a shift was slowly being made... just not on purpose.
Thats why i asked.
... if it was going to be a problem i would go buy a timer, but im much happier getting to see them more. I love my turtles!

Its fine, just dont make it sudden

oooh nocturnal turtles!

You might not need it, but timers make lighting much easier and less stressful for the turtle. If you get a timer, you don't have to worry about turning the lights on and off and the same time everyday all year. And changing them to nocturnal is easy, because you just turn the dial up an hour.

Thanks Every One!

Yes, timers are a blessing! They cost less than $10 usually, and it makes things so much more convenient. I can't tell you how many times I would go to work and forget to turn on his light before I left.

I actually have 2 separate timers, one for the basking lamp and one for the uvb flourescent bulb that goes across the tank. I have it set where the basking light goes on/off about 30 minutes before the other. So that it's kind of like the sun is coming up gradually for him. lol

I do something similar. The brighter light goes on last and off first. It seems more natural that way.

tissigirl wrote:I actually have 2 separate timers, one for the basking lamp and one for the uvb flourescent bulb that goes across the tank. I have it set where the basking light goes on/off about 30 minutes before the other. So that it's kind of like the sun is coming up gradually for him. lol

That is a great idea. An instant sunrise isn't very natural.

That's what I was thinking when I decided to go with 2 timers. Well, that and my original timer didn't have a place for 2 plugs LOL

He usually likes to bask in the evening, so I got the idea to turn off the basking light first so he'd have an idea that it was almost dark time. He usually stays up there for another 20 minutes or so, then heads into the water for bed time. Then when the flourescent light comes on first in the morning he's usually still sleeping, so it lets him know that the basking heat will be on soon without blinding him with all the lights at once.

I don't know, maybe I was putting too much human nature into my thought, but he seems to like it that way. A lot of times now he'll know it's time before the basking lamp goes off and will already be in his sleeping spot!