Turtle Basking Light Wattage (Illustrated Beginners Guide)

Choosing the right wattage for the bulb in the basking area of your turtle can seem quite complicated at first, there are a lot of different options, and nobody will tell you exactly why one wattage is better than the other.

So, in order to clear up this confusion, I decided to write this guide that will tell you everything that you have to know about bulbs and help you choose the best bulb for your turtle.

Bulbs come with different wattages, from 50 watts to 100 watts and up to 150 watts, all of them can be used for a basking area, but to choose the right one you need to take into account the distance between the bulb and the basking area.

In short, there is no best wattage, a 50-watt bulb can be as efficient as a 150-watt bulb. It all comes down to the way your basking area is set up, more precisely, it comes down to how far away your bulb is from your turtle.

What Is the Best Wattage for a Basking Area?

Here are two examples of how bulbs with different wattages will work, and how you will have to set them up.

If the bulb has 150 watts, you can place it 16 inches away from your turtle, and you will get an ideal temperature, any closer than that and it will be too hot.
If the bulb has 50 watts, you have to place it much closer to get the same ideal temperature, at about 6 inches. Any further than that and the temperature will be too low.

So it all comes down to how much space you have at your disposal, what kind of basking area you have, and the lamp fixture. There is no such thing as a general best wattage, but there is the best wattage for each specific situation. So let’s figure out what is the best wattage for you.

How Far Should the Bulb Be From the Turtle?

In order to give an answer that will fit your setup and your turtle, we need to know two things.

The first is what temperature you can expect from a light bulb at certain distances. And second, what turtle species do you have.

Now, let’s start with the first.

Here is a chart that I made showing what temperature you should expect to achieve using different powered light bulbs at certain distances.

Distance (50 W)	Temperature (50 W)	Distance (75 W)	Temperature (75W)	Distance (100 W)	Temperature (100 W)	Distance (150 W)	Temperature (150 W)
4 in.	104°F	4 in.	120°F	4 in.	131°F	4 in.	144°F
8 in.	81°F	8 in.	91°F	8 in.	113°F	8 in.	131°F
12 in.	73°F	12 in.	81°F	12 in.	90°F	12 in.	126°F

To make this chart I used a laser thermometer and the average temperature of the room was 75°Farenheit (24°Celsius), so you might get slightly different results depending on the temperature of your room, but unless the difference is massive the temperature of the basking area should be similar.

As for the bulbs, I’ve been using these bulbs for a few years, but from my experience, all heat bulbs are very similar, so you can use whichever you like the most. But, make sure to avoid halogen bulbs, I will explain shortly why,

Now that you know what temperature to expect from a heat bulb, based on distance and wattage, it’s time to see what temperature you actually need.

Overall most turtles require a similar temperature range, but if you want to get into detail, they are slightly different. And here is a list of the most common pet turtles and their ideal basking area temperatures:

Turtle Species	Temperature Fahrenheit	Temperature Celsius
Red Eared Slider	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Juvenile Red Eared Slider	95 – 100°F	29 – 37°C
Box Turtle	80 – 90°F	26 – 32°C
Juvenile Box Turtle	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Map Turtle	75 – 80°F	24 – 26°C
Juvenile Map Turtle	80 – 90°F	26 – 32°C
Mud Turtle	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Juvenile Mud Turtle	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C
Musk Turtle	85 – 90°F	29 – 32°C
Juvenile Musk Turtle	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C
Snapping Turtle	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Juvenile Snapping Turtle	95 – 100°F	29 – 37°C
Pond Turtle	85 – 95°F	29 – 35°C
Juvenile Pond Turtle	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C
Cooter	80 – 85°F	26 – 29°C
Juvenile Cooter	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C

As you can see juvenile turtles, which means younger turtles that can’t be classified as adults, will require a temperauter that is slightly higher than that of an adult, but overall the difference is not that significant.

Should I Get a UVB Bulb or a Heat Bulb?

Both. UVB bulbs and heat bulbs are two different things.

UVB light plays a vital role in the production of Vitamin D3 which is essential for the calcium in the body. Without UVB light the turtles (as well as humans and many animals) won’t be able to get the proper amount of calcium which can lead to improper bone growth, metabolic bone disease, softshell, shell rot, and many other bad things.

When choosing a light bulb you have to be careful not to confuse UVB light with UVA light. UVA light helps regulate behaviors such as feeding, diurnal movement, mating, and similar activities. And while all those things are good, this is not the kind of light bulb that you want to get for your turtle.

On the other hand, heat bulbs, as the name implies, produce heat. Turtles are what we call cold-blooded animals, which means that they are unable to produce their own body heat, so they have to rely on exterior sources to heat up their bodies. In the wild that exterior source is the sun. For pets, that role is taken by the heat bulb.

Turtles spend a significant portion of their time basking, which means laying in the sun. This doesn’t only regulate their body temperature but also helps them get rid of the bacteria that stuck to them while they were in the water. So a heat source is vital for them.

At this point, you are probably wondering, isn’t there a bulb that produces both UVB light and heat? Do I really need to have two bulbs, why can’t there be only one that does both things? And the answer is yes, there is a bulb that can do both things, but in my opinion, you should avoid it.

Bulbs That You Should Avoid

The bulb that produces both UVB light and heat is called a mercury vapor bulb, and while on paper it sounds like a great way to replace the two bulbs, it has one major flaw, it tends to explode.

Over the years there have been a lot of cases of exploding mercury vapor bulbs, and most of them happened out of a sudden.

So, overall I would recommend you to stay away from them. While not all mercury vapor bulbs will explode, I still don’t believe that the risk is worth it.

Can I Use a Regular Light Bulb for My Turtle?

Regular light bulbs don’t produce as much heat as heat bulbs and don’t produce UVB light, so no they can’t be used as a replacement for any basking area bulb.

But, regular light bulbs do produce some heat, and if you were to get one that is powerful enough, you could replace the heat bulb, but that regular light bulb will most likely be more expensive, consume more power, and produce a light that is way too powerful. So while technically speaking you can replace a heat bulb with a regular light bulb, it’s not practical at all.

How Long Should the Turtle Basking Light Be On?

Ideally, you want to keep the basking lights on for as long as the sun is up, so between 10 and 14 hours.

During the winter there is not as much light outside, as there is during the summer, but you should still keep the basking area on for 10 to 14 hours.

Turning the basking area on and off every day can get quite monotonous, and sometimes you can even forget. If this happens very rarely it’s not a problem, your turtle will be fine, so there is no need to spend the whole day worrying about your turtle. But let me tell you about a trick that I learned that will help you automate the whole process.

For the past few years, I’ve been using a timed outlet. This is an essential product that every turtle owner should own. The timer will automatically turn the lights on and off at certain time periods that you will set. This way you will never have to worry about forgetting to turn the lights on for your turtle when you are leaving for work or school, this will make the whole process automatic. If you could purchase just one thing that could take care of the light and temperature of your turtle’s basking area this would be it.

Here is a link to Amazon where you can check the pricing: US Plug Format, EU Plug Format.

Can a Turtle Basking Area Be Too Cold or Too Hot?

Yes, a turtle basking area can be too hot or too cold.

If the basking area is too hot your turtle won’t be able to stay too long to bask, so while it will get enough heat, it won’t get enough UVB light, which can lead to health problems.

If the basking area is too cold, it will spend more time basking, but it will never get enough heat, which can also lead to health problems.

I don’t want to make it sound like turtles are some extremely fragile creatures, because they aren’t. Having a couple of extra or fewer degrees in their basking area won’t affect their health, this only happens if the difference in temperature is significant.

Final Thoughts

And that’s all there is to know about heat bulbs, UVB bulbs, and basking in general.

The wattage of the bulb is not that important on its own. What’s important is the distance at which you will place the bulb, only after you know that you can take into consideration what wattage you need.

And if you don’t already have a fixture for your bulbs, here is a link to the Lamp Fixture, that I’m using. Overall it’s a very simple fixture, that has room for two bulbs, one heat bulb, and one UVB bulb, and it can hold bulbs that are as powerful as 100W in each socket.

I will close this article with a few common questions related to this subject. But if there is anything else that you want to know, and couldn’t find in this article, you can always leave a question in the comment section down below, and I will answer it as soon as possible.

Common Questions

Do turtles need a heat lamp at night? No, turtles won’t go basking during the night so there is no need to leave them on during the night.

Do tortoises need a heat lamp? Yes, tortoises are still turtles and most of them need to bask, so they will need a heat lamp to do so.

Will something bad happen to my turtle if I forget to turn the lamps on? If you forget for only one day your turtle should be fine as long as you don’t do this again. Turtles can resist without light for some time but if you forget to turn the lamps on repeatedly your turtle will start having health problems.

Why do turtles need lamps for light and heating? In the wild turtles get all the light and heat they need from the sun. If you keep your pet turtle indoors you will have to provide a replacement for the light and heat that it would normally get from the sun