Habitat - Indoor :: Tank covers

[Kallistos]

Hello all,

I have yet another question (when will I shut up, no one knows). People say glass filters most UVB out, screen mesh with holes less than 1/2 inch filters some UVB out. Then, they say that turtles are great escape artists? How am I supposed to cover my turtle tank? I haven't been able to find a screen mesh that has 1/2 inch holes and haven't found any other substitude. I've been thinking to just get a wire mesh that is short enough to cover most of the tank except the basking area. I'd like to use this as a last resort. Do any of you know any other way of cover my tank? Such as, a place that sells wire screen covers w/ 1.2 inch holes?

Thank you

[steve]

Look for something called hardware cloth and you can find it in most hardware stores.

[Kallistos]

They sell that in just sheets I think, I think the turtles can just nudge that away. Maybe I can get my father to construct a wood rectangle and then have the mesh nailed to the wood. Or is there an easier way to do this? Such as, are there clips or something along those lines..

[missibsu]

Two pics of the top of my 75 gallon. The lid is in two sections and what you can't see is that right behind the light bar is a hinge. The glass pulls right out of the hinge on each side, so that pieces can easily be removed or replaced. I have the small section over my basking area removed. Everywhere else is covered in glass. When the time comes, I can lay books on top of it to weight it down.

[steve]

I've seen rain gutter guards that might work if you need small/long/narrow pieces.

[Kallistos]

Just curious, what do you use Steve?

[steve]

None because my water level is not sufficient enough for them to climb out. They are in a 125 gallon tank and they will be getting an above tank basking area for their next upgrade.

[Kallistos]

Tommorow I'm going out and purchasing a 125 gallon tank, it's on "sale" for $180. I'll probabaly just get a small piece of wire mesh and get some wood and just cover the basking area. I know they won't be able to do a pull up out of the water because with much luck they may be able to touch the edge with only the tips of their claws.

[steve]

That may be enough to get out. I've seen turtles climb on top of each other to give the other an unintentional boost.

[Kallistos]

On the basking area it will be covered, and the rest won't be covered, and I factored that in, that's why I said "with much luck" In a few hours I'll be picking up the 125 gallon tank.

[BullDog]

For my new tank I decided to use egg crate. It's the stuff they use on light fixtures.... I used two pieces because I was using scraps, but you might be able to find it at a hardware store?
Here's what it looks like:

The holes are about 3/4 inch...

[jenaero]

That's a damn spanky idea...I think I'll pick some up myself.

[steve]

They are called light diffusers though a lot of people also call them egg crate. I have read that people use them to divide a tank that has aggressive turtles (I think I mentioned it before). As long as a heat lamp is not resting on it, then it should be OK.

[Jessica313]

i use something very similar to chicken wire.. also works really good. .
ill try to remember to take a pic tomorrow