You are probably thinking you need a heat lamp to keep your turtle warm.
While this is definitely what you should do, if you don’t have a heat lamp, you are still more than capable of keeping your turtle warm with alternative methods.
To be clear, I don’t advocate not using a heat lamp. On the contrary, a heat lamp should be one of the first things you should buy when setting up a turtle tank.
However, things happen, and sometimes, we don’t have all the necessary equipment needed for turtles, right at the moment.
If that’s your case, we’ve got you covered.
Below, you’ll get two suggestions on how to keep your turtle warm without a heat lamp.
Let’s get started
Heating The Room
Heating a room is an old school method oftentimes used as a heating method for small fish rooms. It can be used for your turtle tank, as well.
It’s not the best approach, however, if you don’t have a heat lamp, it’s one of the better ways. I assume the temperature in your room is stable throughout the day.
If not, consider setting up a turtle tank in a smaller room, where you can keep the temperature stable throughout the day.
If you are keeping more the one tank, whether they are fish tanks or other turtle tanks, heating the whole room may be cheaper than heating every tank separately. We all know that the electricity bill goes up in no time, as soon as we set up a new tank.
However, heating the whole room has a lot of disadvantages, too. If you have just one tank, there isn’t a point for heating the whole place.
And heating the room will never replace the heat lamp. Turtles need direct heat, preferably on a basking spot, where they climb and bask under direct light.
Heater In The Tank
In my opinion, a heater is a must-have, whether you have a heat lamp or not.
Even if the temperature in the room is stable, having a heater can add stability to your turtle tank.
Ideally, you want two basking spots in your turtle tank. One with direct light where the heat comes from, the other without light, a colder place where the turtle can rest.
Of course, the water in the tank should have a heater to keep the temperature stable.
To be honest with you, it’s hard to replace a heat lamp. These two methods can be used as a last resort only, or as an addition to the heat lamp.
Final Thoughts
Turtles depend on many external factors to stay healthy.
As cold-blooded animals, turtles need a place with a stable temperature to thrive, to be active, and to have good overall health.
Providing them a warm environment is one of the essentials when it comes to keeping aquatic turtles. However, as I said, if you don’t have a heat lamp, there are two alternative methods. In short…
To keep your turtle warm without a heat lamp you need to heat the room, and use a heater in your tank.