Review on Enhance Your Reptile Habitat with the Penn-Plax Reptology Turtle Topper and Extension Clips – Ultimate Basking Platform for Standard Size Tanks by Barb Gordon

I was skeptical about at first. I never thought our oriental painted turtle would use this thing. But he LOVES it! He was poorly cared for before we took him. His bathing area consisted of a rock pile that was pushed to one side of the tank to create an area above the water level. When we got it the previous owner just told us to put the stones back in from time to time because of course the turtle will knock them over when he climbs on them. It was a disaster! He never had a chance to get out of the water completely and dry off. Which is very important for these animals. We tried several other floating platforms on the market but it was too big and couldn't really get warm enough with any of these products. Then we bought the Penn Plax turtle topper. What a lifesaver. And I mean literally for our new pet. He had a terrible fungus on the soft parts of his body, his armor didn't vibrate. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. Its tank is 7 inches long and it lived in a 20 gallon aquarium that was only partially filled with water, with the wrong place to swim and inadequate lighting (a lousy UV strip, but warm now). It didn't even have a place to swim. We changed all that and Turtle Topper was the main driver of a very healthy and prosperous turtle. Now he lives in a 55 gallon tank that is almost full. This is only possible with Turtle Topper. He has enough space to swim. Now he has the right light over the topper as well as a ridiculous amount of filters. The first 2-3 weeks after this new installation he went through an incredible transformation. First, its shell and skin were lost through a complete detachment process. Shields were falling off like crazy. His skin started falling off, but in a good way. During the day, he spent 90% of his time sunbathing with his UV-B and heat lamps. At night He went back into the water. It amazes me how nature tells them exactly what they are and when they need it. Now he breathes easier, eats better, swims great, looks great and is generally very happy. I attribute it all to the perfect turtle top design. I cannot stress enough how important it is for your turtle to COMPLETELY get out of the water and dry off regularly. No other platform can do that. Here are some before and after photos of the little (actually big) guy.