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I'm working on an outside place for my yellow bellied slider and the best location would not get direct sunlight.

It's outdoors, facing south (in Europe), but it's covered by an overhang and has some trees in front of it, so the sun never directly shines on it.

I don't know if this setup would be healthy enough for my turtle.

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  • Is there any patch of sunlight as some "acceptable" distance from the pond / place? The turtle might be trained to look for it, when desired.
    – virolino
    Oct 2, 2019 at 12:07
  • @virolino I'm afraid that wouldn't work. It would mean allowing him free roam on half the garden an in plain view of the neighbour's dog (which is one of the reasons for having chosen that particular spot). Oct 3, 2019 at 6:22
  • Sorry o hear that. However - the sun never directly shines on it. Are you willing to invest in a big mirror, to make the sun shine indirectly? :) Joke aside, you could create a big mirror from some big aluminum foil - you van find them as rolls relatively cheap, being used (layered with some foam) for insulation purposes.
    – virolino
    Oct 3, 2019 at 6:59

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Turtles need to get dry once per day. They only take a sun bath at secure points. This means points, where they have the possibility to fall/drop into (almost deep) water to hide from predators. This is not the cause, if the sunspot is far from the water, so training therefor would be difficult until not possible.

The sun place should warm up to approximatly 40°C, without direct sunlight this is difficult.

Maybe you see the possibility to use mirror like surfaces to bring the sunlight to your turtle, like virolino suggests?

(Side note: turtles are very good in climbing. Please do not use mesh wire as boundaries around the outdoor enclosure.)

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    side note: the enclosure is formed of 20cm high smooth boards topped with a 3cm inwards lip. I don't trust this little ninja. :-) Oct 4, 2019 at 10:49
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    On a serious note: I will just place or where it gets sun, just that the location is less optimal for us humans, and the neighbour's dog won't help make it better. Oct 4, 2019 at 10:52
  • @DiegoSánchez 20cm means your turtles shell is not more than 10cm long. If they could reach the upper edge of the boards with their front paws, it is enough to climb over it. Very strong ninjas ;) Oct 5, 2019 at 21:12

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