Other Turtle Discussion :: Swimming turtle

[Sweetness06]

I just recently bought a red ear slider turtle. I bought a tank that is about 2 feet deep so that i could watch him dive off a floating rock and glide through the water. I was very dissapointed when i put him in his tank for the first time and when he dove off the rock like i was hoping he couldnt swim.... Why cant my turtle swim, and what can i do to help him learn... Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

[missibsu]

What do you mean by 'can't swim'? Is he floating and can't submerge himself? Is he lathargic? Also, some details of your set up would help...basking temp, water temp, lighting, size, amount of water, etc.

[Sweetness06]

He is a little longer than 4 inces long, and has a 75 watt heating lamp and a long light. The tank is I think 2 feet deep. When I first put him in I put him on the floating rock and let him decide when he wanted to get into the water, when he did finally slide off into the water he went strait to the bottom. I had the tank half way full so he couldn't stand on his hind legs and reach the surface. After a minute or too he started to try to climb the sides casually, and then he started frantically trying to get up the side but it was obvious he could not swim. So I had to take out some water so he could stand and reach the surface. I think the reason behind this is I got him at Pet Quarters and they had little tanks with 2-4 turtles in them that didnt have water deep enough to swim and they had rocks on the bottom so he had no reason to swim. But thats just my guess.

[missibsu]

RES should naturally know how to swim, regardless of their previous conditions. Lowering the water level and doing what the petstore did isn't going to help him, but keep him in the same conditions. Have you tried some fake plants that he could help support himself on? That is usually recommended for hatchlings, but if your turtle hasn't had the chance to swim, it could help get him going. You can also try raising the water level gradually over a period of a couple of days.

If that still isn't helping, then I would guess that there is something more going on. When turtles have fluid in their lungs they may have problems submerging themselves, or they may swim lopsided. I'm not sure if not being able to raise up through the water is a sign of the same thing, someone else can post on that.

What is the water temp and basking temp? Also, do you have a UVB light?

If you aren't sure of the actual gallons capacity of your tank, there is a calculator on the main site. You plug in the measurements and it figures it for you. Rule of thumb in 10 gallons per inch.