Hi. I have a red-eared slider named Valentine. I have had Valentine for 14 years - ever since she was regulation small fry size. Valentine has suddenly (this year) started escaping her habitat. I am trying to figure out if there is a good reason for this that needs to be addressed, or if she needs another habitat for a time. Other research I have done about this suggests checking: water temp, basking area temp, water quality, appropriate variety of food. The other thing that has been suggested is that she might be looking for an area to lay eggs.
Her water temp is 79 degrees. Basking area, I forget, but it is warm and she spends quite a bit of time there. She shares her tank with 5 cichlids and an algae eater. She gets a wide variety of foods - various lettuces, collard greens, mustard greens, etc., plus dried crickets & worms, plus cichlid pellets, plus a cuttlebone. Every so often I also get 60-100 small feeder fish. She loves that. Occasionally I put in water plants, but those get eaten pretty quickly. She has a 120-gallon tank with a few resin ornaments. But plenty of room to swim. It is on a constant auto- system that removes some water every day and adds some water every day. We also use a water clarifier every 2 weeks. And we do periodic full tank cleans - but not very often, as the tank mostly maintains itself with the auto-stuff and filtering that is going on. I checked ammonia. It was perfect. We also have a variety of filters and bio balls to help maintain the biome and remove waste.
Currently, we have a 12" topper on her tank that we made to ensure she stays in the tank. I can certainly modify it to make it harder for her to escape (and I plan to). But I am wondering if she needs something that she isn't getting in the tank. Any ideas? Isn't 14 a little old to want to start laying eggs? I can't think of what else it might be. If she does want to lay eggs, then what kind of habitat does she need? I would think being out of water for a long period of time might hurt her? Also, aren't they always supposed to eat in the water?
Jen