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I'm putting Socrates into a new tank. It's huge, he'll love it, but that's not the point. I filled it with the hose and it's been sitting for a day and a half now, so any traces of chlorine should have evaporated. I want to put him in, but the temperature is a little low. It's at 68F. Is that high enough for him to be comfortable? I've got a basking area for him, so theoretically he'll be fine, right? I just don't want him to go into hibernation mode.

He will go into the "death zone". It will be too warm to hibernate but to cold to live normally. Do you have a water heater? I strongly suggest getting one.

No, I don't. It's on the list. Right after a better filter. Until then, what should I do? Try to warm the water to temp?

I would say the heater should be the #1 priority. Even more so than the filter. I got a heater for a 75 gallon for $20 from petsmart. Even if you warmed up the water on the stove or something, it would just cool back down to room temp. Since turtles are cold blooded they rely on their surounding to regulate their body temp much more than we do....So a temperature that might be mildly uncomfortable for us could be deadly for them.

Heaters are cheap and a definite necessity. You won't be able to keep the water warm without one.

Don't put the turtle in there until you get a water heater. The extreme fluctuations in temps from the basking area to water could shock him, or make him bask all day because he doesn't wanna be cold, or maybe even give him a respiratory infection.

Heater and thermometer are #1 priority. Do not try to heat it yourself, especially without a therm. My boyfriend had done a water change and thought the water was cool, because it felt lukewarm to him. He put the fish in without checking the temp, and they boiled right then and there. ): Thank goodness they were just feeder fish and not our turtle. You can partial water changes, or use a turkey baster to get out waste.. But temp. can KILL your turtle!

maelunoc, how big is your turtle?

Is the weather getting warm where you are now? If it is, and if you're using AC, don't. Let the room get warm, and the water temp will warm to the room temp. It's better for a hatchling's water temp to be warmer, but if your turtle isn't a hatchling and is healthy, water in the low 70's isn't going to harm him. My RES does well in water that's 68-70F, and this is his regular temp range in the winter.

A heater will not warm the tank evenly without a filter to circulate the water (and warmth).

68F is not enough to put a turtle in hibernation mode. It is, however, certainly better for hatchlings to have the water around 77-80F (if your turtle is one).

Socrates is a hatchling. He's about two and a half inches, so just a baby. It's supposed to be getting warmer right now, but because of climate change my area is seeing some very irregular weather. We got three feet of snow in the middle of spring! Anyway, the ambient temperature seems to be around 68F, with it dropping at night, so the tank doesn't come to anything higher than that.

I took everyone's advice and bought a heater. I have a filter, it just isn't big enough to circulate enough water to remove all the waste, but it will circulate water to maintain an even temp. The water temperature now is 80F and has been there for a couple days now. Next... a bigger filter.

Thanks for everyone's help!

macnoc -- Get water heater and thermometer! Temp for water 76 to 78. Filter should be large enough to exchange the water at least 5 times per hour. Heater, heater, heater.

Thank you, Mikee. I've already stated that I bought a heater. And it's maelunoc.