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im building a basking area, and was curious as to what the base should be? plexiglass? wood? any help would be great since my dad is trying to figure it out as we speak lol.

It depends on the specifics of how you're building it.
You can use wood, but you have to make sure it isn't in the water so that chemicals can't seep out into the tank, and you always have a possibility of mold issues.
I'd go for plexiglass, because it's durable and easy to clean. But it can be hard to work with...

Do a search through the forum to see what others have done. A lot of people like grey goose use tiles and plexiglass, and it makes a really beautiful basking area.

Whatever you go with you just have to make sure your turtle can easily access it.

Search the site, there's a number of excellent ones made out of plexiglass for inspiration. I've just finished creating one out of wood that has a cedar 1/2" base (cedar resists rot reasonably well) and a pine top (a nice wood that looks great as long as it doesn't get too wet).

As megcornell, if you go with wood you need to know your wood so that it's chemical-free. This means no pressure-treated, painted, varnished, stained, etc.

If you go with plexi, use aquarium-safe silicone to put it all together (other posts on this site will explain all that in great detail).

okay, i feel like a doof, but i have another question...

Im making a ramp for them to get up to the basking area, and uhhh i dont know how to bend it...

will a blow dryer work to heat it and bend?
any other suggestions????

Thank you 2 so much for the help!!

4Probably a blow dryer will work. If not, use a heat gun.

Look here:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13965

It's a detailed description of how to put together a basking/resting ramp.

I made mine out of plexiglass and to bend the ramp I just turned my stove on high- waited for it to heat up, put on an oven mitt, then held it over the stove for a minute or so. Very easy.