My 3-month-old painted turtle has taken to sitting on the aquarium heater, 50W. He's got some yellow, slightly mushy spots on his plastron now from burns. I'm going to move one of his ramps today to try to block him for sitting against the heater. It's cold in the basement where he is so I don't want to remove the heater, at least right now.

I am posting to ask if any of you have ideas on what you have done to keep turtles (or other animals for that matter) off of heaters. I was thinking it would be nice to build a little cage around it but I'm not sure how. Any ideas?

ive seen designs for PVC type tubes with lots of holes drilled in them to act as a barrier to keep fish from busting them, so that may work. some filters allow heaters to be put in them, there are also in-line heaters for filters with any tubing (canisters or sumps). sometimes decor can be used to block heaters. it may mean adding or changing the output of pumps and filters so water still gets across the heaters. maybe providng other places that he may rather like to rest on, or maybe it is warmer there meaning you may need to get a higher wattaged heater so all the water is the same temp. any pics of the setup? depending on the setup you may be able to add another resting place and/or just move the heater lower in the water.

I put one of Tator's ramps over the heater but last night, he slept under water up against it. His plastron wasn't in contact but part of his head and carapace were. I have it set to around 75 degrees F. I think he likes the heat. The water is only a few inches deep (3" maybe) because he's only an inch long, and I have to be able to lift the container upstairs to dump it 3 times a week. I don't think my 13-year-old 3' sailfin lizard, Einy, will live much longer, maybe a few years. I plan to put Tator in her 120 gallon tank then. I have pictures of Snappy's old setup which is similar to Tator's on http://www.fishpondinfo.com/hatchling.htm
Tator is on my site on an undisclosed URL because I am technically a criminal for having her. I got her from someone who found my site who lives nearby. I talked to the DNR permit people. There is no way she can be legal for me to have but they said that I shouldn't worry about them coming after her/him or I. My paranoid parents made me swear never to tell anyone of Tator's existence. Oops.

The heater is 50 W in just a few gallons of water. I don't think the heat is being spread around but can't seem to configure things to have the Duetto squirt towards the heater with all the cords, cord lengths, output positions, etc. If I put pipe with holes over it, I think that would even further reduce the heat dissipation. Do you know if the new Duetto Stealth heaters are less hot on the outside nearest the heating element? The glass heaters get pretty hot. I can't move the heater lower; it's on the bottom on its side. As I said, the water is shallow.

they are visi-therm stealth heaters, not duetto, and they get hot, too hot to keep my hand on it, so i cant grab both and see which is cooler. if i cant hold, its too hot for a turtle to rest on it. is the tank bare bottom? maybe you could move the heter onto the bottom, may have to buy an extension cord to get it to the right spot in the tank. i still think other decorations may seem more appealing to him and may get him to stop resting on the heater.

That's what I meant, Visitherm Stealth, not Duetto Stealth. I guess I had Duetto on my mind. I just got one for my 40 gallon tank with my 14" pleco so I don't have to worry about the glass breaking when he slams the heater.

The tank is a plastic storage box. It is bare bottomed. The heater is on the bottom. I will see what I can do about moving things around. It would be easier if I had a better setup but I'm reticent to buy a good $300 aquarium setup for the turtle (and no place to put it) and then, with my luck, have my poor lizard die 2 days later and her 120 gallon tank go to waste. I have too many tanks to clean as it is. But, I have decided to keep Tator. At first, the plan was to put him in my pond but I know even if he didn't run away (no fencing), our tons of predators would get him, no matter what his size would be.

what about the indoor pond?

That never crossed my mind. It's a 20 gallon tub, pretty deep, not heated, hard to get to with all the terrestrial tropical plants around it. With the fantails out of there, I could technically put Tator in there but I wouldn't be able to control the situation as well. It's hard to clean, and I wouldn't be able to see Tator from the side of the tank like I can now. Plus, it doesn't have the incandescent heat lamps, and the fluorescent fixture is 5 feet above the pond (and made for plants, not UVB for reptiles).

better filter will lengthen the time between cleanings, and you could do a bigger tank and just use buckets, i know that would suck for you, but i think you believe the same as i do, the most important thing is the animals health. outdoor unfenced unprotected pond isnt an option.

I dont like to use underwater heaters for my turtles, they like to play around them and lay on them and chew on them and what not. I hang basking lamps and heat lamps over the basking rocks for them when it gets cold. and since mine are outside and i dont cover the pond, the ponds get lots and lots of leaves at the bottom, and last winter, i went weeks without seeing the turtle. he just got snuggled in under the leaves. RES are native around here so they can make it thru our winters.

another note, i dont find underwater heaters heat evenly, so i like them to have a nice warm spot on the basking rocks.