General Care Discussion :: Sleeping??

[Plunk]

We have a female RES that is around a year old. Over the past few days I have noticed that she is sleeping quite a bit while basking.

Normaly she is very alert and impossible to sneak up on, but as mentioned, over the past few days she is zonked right out. She is very active other wise, eats well and has no other signs or symptoms of illness.

We did add some tank mates to her tank last weekend, but she has adapted very well to them and pretty much ignores them (a large snail, two clams and a crawfish - found at the petstore with no pinchers). we also changed her basking spot from a light colored floating stone to a darker one that looks more natural.

Anyone have any ideas? am I becomming a super stelth ninja, is she just getting very use to to tank and more relaxed or is occasionally zonking out while basking a normal behavior?

She is aound 3 1/2" long and live in a 55 gallon tank.

Tank temp is:75f
Basking temp is 95 to 98f

[mikee]

Plunk -- One or all or your turtle’s tank mates will become food one day. When living in Louisiana, a long time ago, I put five of the biggest crawfish, with claws, in my tank with four 3 inch sliders and all but one were eaten by my turtles over a week-end. I left the claws on for self-defense. The last one disappeared the next day. It may take some time, but they will become food. I would raise the water temperture to 78. You might find her more active. Most sleep in the water and doze while basking.

[erinemcgreevy]

Any other symptoms? My turt has been spending all day long sleeping and basking and I'm taking him to the vet today, he has other symptoms as well. I would keep an eye on her and see if other changes occurs.

[marisa]

To me, the basking temp is a little too high (and the 98F is definitely too high)---I'd lower it to more like 90-92F. The high heat could be causing her to "zonk out" on the basking area.