Habitat - Indoor :: Sunning too much??

[mollylawson]

Hi all, just wondering......can my RES sun too much? I am a teacher and we were off for 3 weeks for the holiday and one of my students took the our two RES' home. Well since coming back from break, my little guy has sat on his sunning rock all day. I am worried, does this mean he might be sick? Is this odd or normal? He use to sun occasionally during the day while class was in session but not ALL day!

BTW: when I returned from break I noticed that my student did not take the lamp with him.....when I asked him about it, he said he had one at home that he used.....if he really didn't have a lamp, and they we'ren't able to sun thoe 3 weeks, is this possibly why my little guy is sunning so much?

I am going crazy and am worried

thankws

[BROOKLYN]

When Turtles are constantly basking, it usually is a sign that he/she might be sick. In 3 weeks time, if a turtle is not properly care for, there is a chance that the turtle might have caught something. Hatchlings and Yearlings are especially more vulnerable. Did you ensure that the student had a proper setup before you gave permission for him/her to take the turtles home? Is the student responsible and reliable? Besides the consistent basking, are the turtles eating, swimming, and acting normal? If one of them is sick, a quarantine procedure might be needed so the healthy turtle won't catch anything. But there is always a possibility that the turtles are slowly adjusting to their old home again. Are the turtles living in an outside pond or are they living in a tank? How exactly are the turtles getting the sunlight? If the tank is near a window, this isn't a good idea. Not only are the turtles not absorbing UVB rays because of the glass filtering but there's a chance that the turtles could die since high water temperature from the sunlight.

[cam722]

Do you know what sort of setup the turtle was in for those 3 weeks? Did they have the proper heating and basking area? I don't recall what grade you teach .. so how old was this student?

[marisa]

Are there any other symptoms besides the excessive basking? If he couldn't bask for three weeks, maybe he's trying to compensate for it now (make sure the temp is in a good range (88-90F) and that he can get under a UVB light as well as the basking light.

[mollylawson]

Well I asked my 5th grade student again if our turtle friends had light and proper set up. He claims they did and the little one always sunned, even at his house but the bigger one didn't. I sent the turtles home with one of my most responsible students....I take caring for my turtles very seriously and have done tons of research about how to care for them...so i don't take this matter lightly. That's why i'm asking about the exsessive sunning. My tank is not getting direct sunlight but rather has a lamp attacted to the tank. Should I seperate my big guy from the little guy (mr. sunning) or wait it out a day or two and see if the behavior changes? I feed them every morning...and she's sunning and does not go in to eat it. The big one does though, he is acting normal. Should I consider taking my little one to the vet?
Thanks for those who have replied.

[jenaero]

I'd say if he's not eating, a vet visit is a good idea. Refusing to eat is usually a good indication of illness.

[cam722]

How long ago did they come back? I'm wondering if she's just not just adjusting to all the moving around. Although it's odd for it to be basking all the time .. usually they shy away from basking when they are re-adjusting.

[mollylawson]

To anwer the previous question: Our classroom turtles came back on Monday. after thinking about what might be wrong, I wentto petco at lunch today and bought brand new heater (this would be my 4th) because the one we had broke. It has been in my tank for only two hours and already my little guy is back in the water sitting next to the heater. I'm thinking the water was too cold for him and he was sunning all the time to bring up his body temp. I will monitor the situtation and take it day by day..if a vet visit is in store, then we'll take him but first i want to see if he "act" different. Thanks for all of your help thus far.

[cam722]

Ahhh that sounds like the problem That's why the water temp is so important. Do you keep a thermometer in their tank? If not, they are rather expensive a huge help when trying to determine what could be wrong. Most times the first thing we ask are.. what's the water/basking temp?

Hope this does the trick.

[BROOKLYN]

To anwer the previous question: Our classroom turtles came back on Monday. after thinking about what might be wrong, I wentto petco at lunch today and bought brand new heater (this would be my 4th) because the one we had broke. It has been in my tank for only two hours and already my little guy is back in the water sitting next to the heater. I'm thinking the water was too cold for him and he was sunning all the time to bring up his body temp. I will monitor the situtation and take it day by day..if a vet visit is in store, then we'll take him but first i want to see if he "act" different. Thanks for all of your help thus far.

It is very possible that the reason the sick turtle wasn't as active like before was because of the cold water temperature. What kind of heater did you buy? You mention that this was your 4th heater. Are you buying ones that are shatterproof and fully submersible? Those heaters will save you money in the long run and most likely won't endanger your turtles when it breaks or cracks. The heaters that hang on top of your tank are crap and the Petland Discounts around me only sell those. I recommend the Marineland Visi-Therm Stealth. It only cost $20 for 250Watts @ BigAls. The ones for smaller tanks cost a little under that. It's shatterproof, fully submersible, and I like the rubberlike covering around it. The thermometer in it is pretty accurate compare to my other heater (Hydor). As for a separate thermometer, I use a digital one from Coralife. I bought it at a local store for $9 but you can easily get one for around $5-6 online. Good for testing basking temperature and water temperature. The sticker ones are garbage and a waste of money. I would know since I spent $3 on one and now it's just an annoying sticker that won't want to come off the tank without leaving sticky scuff marks behind.

[marisa]

Brooklyn, just curious, but has your turt tried to do anything with the probe on the Coralife? I just put one in a 20-gallon today and am waiting to see if Bug (the turt) has decided to see if it's edible. (I think the suction cup that's supposed to stick the probe to the side of the tank is crap, BTW, and had do use a different one to get it to stick.)

[BROOKLYN]

Brooklyn, just curious, but has your turt tried to do anything with the probe on the Coralife? I just put one in a 20-gallon today and am waiting to see if Bug (the turt) has decided to see if it's edible. (I think the suction cup that's supposed to stick the probe to the side of the tank is crap, BTW, and had do use a different one to get it to stick.)

Marisa, I have used the thermometer for almost 3 months now and none of my turtles have decided to do anything with it. I would lay it on their basking area and they would just ignore it and go on with their business. Same goes when the probe is in the water. I also had the same concern when I first put it infront of Survivor. I still check the probe and wire now and then to see if there are any marks or possible tears. None so far. As for the suction cup, after about a month of using it, it does start to slip off. However, I am not talking about the suction cup that is used with the probe but the thermometer itself. The thermometer had fell to the floor several times and the chasis came right off (in half). It clips back on with ease but every time it falls off, it comes right back off again.

[cam722]

I've used one of those for my basking area for months now and haven't had any issues with it. My turtles just ignore it ..

[mollylawson]

I did buy a shatterproof and fully submersible heater. The first one i bought was a hang over the edge of the tank kind, and then I got smart and bought the submerisibe one....for some reason, they just burn out or stop working and I pay a pretty penny for them! (30 bucks or so) I have a large tank (90 gallon) and only fill it up 30 - 40 gallons or so and I think what happens is that when the water level decreases, and the heater is exposed it burns out. Lesson learned, add water to the tank! Also, as soon as I walked into my classroom from returing from the pet store, i thought to myself "i should have bought a thermometer!" I had one (glass) and that broke (with kids around, everything breaks) so I will take your suggestion and get the coralife one asap, thanks for the advice.
Question: I read somewhere once that even if your lamp bulb is not burnt out, that you should replace it anyway every so often....do you believe this is true, and if so, how often?
I can't wait to get back tomorrow and see how my RES are! I sure do love them tons and my kids do too! We have 2 turtles and 1 hamster and boy do they love to sit and watch the turtles.
BTW: I appologize for the spelling in my last entry, kids distract me and my thoughts go all over the place

[BROOKLYN]

Question: I read somewhere once that even if your lamp bulb is not burnt out, that you should replace it anyway every so often....do you believe this is true, and if so, how often?

Molly, I believe you might have be thinking about the UVB light. It is recommended that the UVB light source should be replace about every 6 months or a year tops. The reason is that over time, the UVB rays will gradually become weaker. Even when there is no more UVB output happening, the light itself might still work. At many times, this confuses the consumer that UVB rays are still being absorbed by their reptiles. As for a UV Rays by standard light bulb, it stops transmitting UV Rays (heat) when the light bulb dies.