redearslider.com

Hello,

My name is Dale and I have 2 red ear slider turtles that just turned 30 years old. Yes that is right 30 years old.

For all of there lives they have lived in a 50 gallon aquarium with only 5 or 6 inches of water and after seeing some real nice setups on forums I decided to go ahead and build a retirement home for them seeing they are going to stick around.

I started with a 100 Gallon rubbermaid stock tank & Fluval FX6 filter and built around that. Now being 90% completed except for some plants (real and fake) we decided to introduce the turtles to the new home. The larger one took to it great and spends most of the time out of sight. Now the problem is with the smaller one that likes to spend all his time either under the heat lamp or on the log. When the smaller one ventures off the log or dives directly in the water he actually panics and has a hard time swimming back to the log.

On the first day we tried him in it he was so exhausted from trying to get back to the log I thought we were gonna loose him because when we got him out of the tank his neck was fully extended and he was not moving. After about 20 minutes he started breathing real heavy and slowly started getting back to himself.

Since we have only left him in the new setup while we are within distance to keep a close eye on him.

I am pretty sure it is because he simply has forgot or never really learned to swim in this deep of water. Does anyone have experience with similar situation? I am thinking to just get him use to it slowly and hopefully that helps. Any info is greatly appreciated..

Hi Dale, very nice looking home you have for them. Is the smaller turtle just having trouble climbing up the log? As for swimming depth, it's usually best to gradually increase the water levels, but most re-learn how to adapt pretty quickly.

The smaller turtle seems to really start panicking and tries to get out on the sides which are smooth and slippery. When I see him do this I let him go for a second to see if he will figure it out and when he struggles I lend him a hand and turn him around to the log which he climbs up onto without a problem. Several times now he will dive into the water and head straight for the log and has no issue getting on it.

It's not unusual for them to think they can go through glass or other obstacles. My turtles also does things the hard way, I've always been impressed with their determination.