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I know that the Ambient temp for basking should be around 88-90, however, I am wondering if I can keep a warming light on all the time. I think the change in air temperatures from day (basking light on) to night (basking light off) might be causing too much of a shift in Air temp..

Or should I just cover the top of the tank at night to hold in the warmer air?

What do you folks do in this situation?

You could cover the tank at night. How cool does it get in your house at night? Are you using AC? I used to cover the tank if the AC was on. You could use a night light instead.

I was always told not to worry about air temp at night. Healthy turtles sleep in the water at night and as long as you have a water heater, they should be fine. Now when my turtle was sick I did leave a red night light that gave off little heat b/c he would sleep on the dock.

Hmmmm

We keep our AC on all the time, thermostat controlled of course, at a temp of 74-76 depemding on the day. I might have to pick something up to warm the temp up for them. The water is regulated but after the lights go off the temp drops. Mine have been sleeping on the dock continually so they very well might be sick.

The problem would be coming out of warm water and breathing cold air. I'd cover it up just to make sure.

jenaero wrote:The problem would be coming out of warm water and breathing cold air. I'd cover it up just to make sure.

Thanks for the feedback.

If you're using a heater and cover a good portion of the tank at night, the warmth from the water will be trapped inside and keep the ambient air temp warmer. A drop of about 5 degrees at night is OK for a healthy turtle, though.
Keeping the AC on in a room with a turtle/turtles can be problematic.