Bob wrote in
:

One of the newer topics when I was active (it's been a few
years) was the Weston UVB lamp; a full sized flood with external
ballast. There was a lot of debate about whether the
fluorescent-type designs (Zoomed, etc) were weak, or the
Weston-type bulbs were too strong.

ah, then you probably missed the introduction & subsequent recall
of Zilla's 'desert UVB' lamps. there were serious eye burn issues
from the wavelengths. i don't think there were any permanant
blindnesses, but it was not fun. i had one on my Schneider skink,
but he's not a basker & wasn't affected. i sent the lamps back
anyway.

I love turtles. Never kept one, though we used to occasionally
rescue them when I lived in the sticks.

i have a snapper who will be 6 in August. he was a severely
dehydrated hatchling when my nephew found him in the road. nephew
thought it was dead, but brought it to me anyway. a little water &
some lettuce and he was off & growing he's gone from the size of
a quarter to almost the size of a tea saucer, but he's only that
big because i don't hybernate him for more than 4-6 weeks... so
he's eating a bit more than a snapper in the wild.
i also have tortoises, a pair of Pyxis (and an egg! i hope it
hatches. so far it looks good) & a Bell's Hingeback. tortoises are
a little easier to keep than turtles.

Gotta wonder where these things come from. Luckily, it doesn't
appear to have spread much into southern states yet. Gotta hope
that it's dependant on northern environment, or that's bad news
for large bat populations.

it does look like it's a cold-loving fungus. that's a hopeful sign
for southern bats, at least.
lee