General Care Discussion :: Out of water sleeping

[BullDog]

So Frankie has decided she likes her new basking area so much, she sleeps up there most nights. If she's up there when the lights go out, she usually just stays up there overnight. Then I hear her splash back into the water in the morning (before the lights are back on).
When I usually look at my digital thermom in the morning, the air temperature is around 74, but I have seen it get as low as 68 on the cold nights.
My question is, will she know to go in the water if the air temperature feels cool?
I've got the water temp on the warmer side right now (77) because I just wanted to boost her immune system after I got her, just to make sure she didn't catch RI after being in an unheated bucket for several days.
Could it be that the water is too warm for her liking to sleep in?

The other problem I'm having with "her highness" is that when feeding time comes around in the evening, she doesn't want to come down from her royal throne. The first couple of times, I turned her facing down the ramp, even put her front paws in the water, and the first thing she does is dunk her head and gulps down some water, like "Oh yeah! I forgot I was thirsty!" Then, if the food was close enough, she would sit on the ramp and stuff her mouth with as much food as she could , until she slid off to get the stuff that had floated away. The next time I tried turning her around, she dug in her front paws as if to say "I am NOT done basking you twit!" So I gave that up. The next day, I tried putting some food on the ramp (A strawberry no less!), and though she might see it, taste it, and want to swallow it and therefore go into the water. She eyed the food suspiciously, but still didn't come down.
In the morning when she finally comes down, she goes around and eats all the food that has sunk and stuck to the filter intake.
I would really rather not bend my schedule to feeding Frankie in the morning when she's in the water.
Will she eventually get the message and come into the water at feeding time, or will she continue to do a cleanup in the morning (which seems so wasteful, because by that time, half of the food has been sucked up by the filter. And I don't think filters need a balanced diet of Reptomin and veggies )

Maybe the lesson is: You can't lead a turtle to water, but you can make her drink.

[marisa]

I've got an eastern painted who insists on sleeping on the basking area even though the tank is in the basement and the ambient air temp averages 62F. I don't think he stays on the basking area after the light goes out, rather he climbs up there sometime during the night and will be up there in the morning when I go to check on them. I cover the tank at night so that the warmth of the heated water is trapped in the tank, which, in turn, keeps him warmer as well.

[Bumby's Mom]

My adult painted sleeps on her dock most of the time as well and the air temp is only around 68. Sometimes I cover the tank, all depends on how cool it is in my room.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I've caught Sheba sleeping on the dock a few times. Sometimes they just like to be dry. As long as they aren't sick, it is totally normal.

[BullDog]

Ok, that's good to know. I can stop worrying about that.
Now my only problem is getting her to come down when it's dinner time

[fultonh]

My RES sleeps on the basking area all the time, especially at night. About the feeding situation, my turtle loves to eat and gets excited when i show her the food container, but i always take her out of the tank to feed. I'm not sure how big your turtle is but my RES is about 8" and i just put her in a smaller storage bin (approx 30gal maybe bigger.) with about a foot of water. She has plenty of room to move and eat. You should try it because maybe if you take her out she will get use to it and then start eating, also it keeps the tank cleaner.

[BullDog]

Frankie is about 8.5". As for taking her out to feed her, I think it would be too much work for me. It means another container of water, plus emptying and filling it every day. Although I think Frankie would adjust to it quickly (She's the definition of mellow), I don't need to worry about tank cleanliness since I've got an fx5 hooked up to her tank
But thanks for the suggestion!

The good news is that tonight at supper time, she was in the water. Maybe she's starting to get the idea
They both got grapes tonight for a special treat. In true turtle style, Frankie ate the meat of the grape, but not the peel

[fultonh]

lol well thats really good to here Hopefully she continues the trend