General Care Discussion :: why my turtle ALWAYS wants to be in the same place...

[my_manuelita_turtle]

My turtle always like to be in the same spot of the tank, she walks around and she goes basking, but she always go to the same place and stays there for hours, she sleeps, she eats there... The also likes to submerge a lot and swim around. Why can that be... should I make her by in a dry place more? On monday is going to be her second week for her here, but supposely she should be adapted by now?

[kgielda]

How much water do you have in the tank? Do you have a pic of the setup?

[my_manuelita_turtle]

i have a little pond, but tomorrow i'll buy a 10 gallon tank, It has an inclination so there could be a dry part for basking. I have two lamps on top of it. The amount of water is less that an inch because my turtle is small

[Bumby's Mom]

There should be WAY more water than 1 inch. You should go with a 20 gallon or more and fill it almost to the top. I have 2 3 month old babies that are only 1.5 inches and their tank is full to the top, they swim fine, they just need plants and things to rest on so they dont get tired before they make it to the basking dock.

[kgielda]

Go into the photo gallery and look at people's set up's in there. RES' are aquatic turtles- mine is in the water swimming way more than on the basking platform. You should get a floating dock so it doesn't take up as much space in the tank (your turtle can swim under it) and fill the tank has high as possible.

[mikee]

my_manuel_turtle If you have only one turtle, that is a hatchling, you should start out with at least a 20 gallon tank. He will out grow of the 10 gallon tank in no time as they require 10 gallons per inch. If he is two weeks old he should be able to swim like crazy. If and when you put him into a new environment his behavior will change at first until he gets use to the new surroundings. Some will not eat for up to a week. Just follow the rules on lighting temperature filters, etc and he will be okay. There is a sticky dept, that you should read, at the beginning. At any rate there are people who will be glad to help.

[TurtleObsession28]

my turtle tank is like a 30 gallon 1 and i have 3 turtles that are babies and i filled the water up to 4in which is like about half up the tank a lil more

[my_manuelita_turtle]

I bought everything today, I have a 20 gal tank, with filter, water heater, termometer, water conditioner, and a thing that has the form of a turtle that has calcium and kills bad bacteria. The temperature right now is between 82-84. It also has a basking place, with the basking light, I still havent found a UVB light but Im still looking. The first time I put the turtle she started swiming and swiming... but now she seems exhausted, she found a spot on the tank, where she is not submerged in water, so she's like resting there. She also ate and pooped... Is it normal for her to be exhausted? because she use to be in a "lagoon" with less than an inch of water, and now she has a huge tank for herself. I think she ate the food stick because I puted it like two hours ago in the water and now I cant find it. But she seems happy at least..

[my_manuelita_turtle]

I still need a lot of accesories for the tank, but all the basics are covered for now..

[emma]

You should lower the water temp to 78 degrees. Higher temps cause exessive shedding. I bet your turtle must be so happy with all that new stuff! Try to get a UVB light as soon as possible. And yes, when I first got my 20 gallon tank, my turtles just say around for like 2 days, then they finally got used to the big tank. It should be normal for your turtle.