Testing new invention

[Marshall]

I came up with an idea for the box turtle rescue area units to allow them to get natural uv-light and also save electricity. I am going to build some wood "tunnels" with Lexan tops that the turtles can go out into from the indoor habitat in order to bask in the sunlight. The walls will be insulated and the Lexan is thick enough so that even in the tunnels it will still be heated even on the coldest days. Basking lights use about 75 watts which is not a whole lot until you remember I have to have about 25 basking stations for all the turtles. I figured up the math and these 6 tunnels will eliminate about 10 to 12 basking lamps and the material to build the tunnels will only cost about 15 bucks because the materials are all donated so I only have to buy the fasteners etc. I am gonna build one to start with in order to test the concept so I will post images and a review when finished and if it works I will publish the full schematics and plan/instructions for free as I do with all my projects/inventions/solutions. I included the draft/concept schematic to give an idea of the basic structure I am building.

 

[sissy]

may work but I like the turtle pics better .Thing is will they mind you peeping at them .I thought turtles like dark in the winter months or do they still come out .Never owned a turtle so no clue what they do .

 

[Marshall]

may work but I like the turtle pics better .Thing is will they mind you peeping at them .I thought turtles like dark in the winter months or do they still come out .Never owned a turtle so no clue what they do .

They are indoors so they won't brumate. Also they have to come out into the sun or a heat lamp really everyday because they are cold blooded. If they stay in the shade all day their temp will drop making them sluggish and unable to digest food.
PS: Both my aquatic and box turtles either don't care if you watch them or as is the case with my personal pet turtles and some of the rescue pnes is they do whatever they can to get your attention lol. My RES turtles will swim right up to my hand when it is in the water and will hold on to it even while I am moving it around in the water during maintenance.

 

[addy1]

Love your little turtle drawings.

 

[MitchM]

Have you checked into how UV light is filtered through Lexan?

 

[Marshall]

Have you checked into how UV light is filtered through Lexan?

Artificial UV is not that good at going through glass but Lexan is not shielded. Sunlight can easily penetrate the Lexan plus they still have artificial uv lights indoors too as the uv lights are all compact fluorescent and use around 8 watts so not that hard on the budget. The main thing is eliminating the heat lamps which burn loads of electricity no matter if being used or not and you can't really turn them on "when needed" as they take time to heat up the surface and if they are not on and pre heated already the turtles will just get pissed off and refuse to eat or try and find another source of heat.
PS: Lexan is however stabilized against uv so it will let it through but wont absorb it meaning the sunlight won't break down and yellow the Lexan which is an added bonus over glass not to mention you can basically throw a cinder block at lexan and it will bounce off.