General Care Discussion :: Sleeping at the bottom of the tank all day?

[Miss_Grey]

I've had Scooby for several years. However, we lived in Los Angeles and his tank was in our kitchen, where he got a lot of indirect natural light. He usually basks for several hours a day.

This is his first winter in NYC, and our apartment is considerably darker (northern exposure). Though everything about his setup is exactly the same as it was before (UVA/UVB, Eheim filter with in-line heater set to 24° C, clean tank every 2 weeks), he's been spending several hours a day sleeping at the bottom of the tank.

He's basking a couple hours a day, swimming almost as energetically as ever when he's awake, he eats with vigor. His eyes are clear, he's not swimming crooked, and there's no evidence of any respiratory infection or shell rot or anything. When I take him out he loves stomping around the apartment.

He just sleeps at the bottom of the tank a LOT and is more mellow than he usually is.

Is he reacting to the lower ambient light even though he has 2 bright tank lights (basking and UVB)? Is he reacting to the ambient temp in the air, which is definitely colder than it was in LA? Is he simply bored because he's not getting as much company as we did in LA?

Please advise; I love my Scooby and this behavior is concerning me.
Yes, before anyone says it, I am looking for a turtle friendly vet in NYC and if anyone has a rec I'd be grateful.

[steve]

A few people believe their RES experience Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It's sometimes a change in basking routine, appetite, food preference, etc. and that's what I would lean towards.

Is he sleeping at the bottom during the day?

[Miss_Grey]

Thanks for the quick response!

Yes, in his usual sleeping spot. I woke him up just now by peering concernedly into the tank, and he's kind of floating around with his nose sticking out of the water. But if turtles could snore, I'd be seeing little zzzzzs come out of the tank a goo chunk of the day.

So what do I do, put wellbutrin in his water supply? /jk

Seriously, should I add more light to his tank area?

Thanks again!

[steve]

I would bump up the water temps to 79F. What's the basking temp? Some more light could be good too. And what did you mean he's not getting as much company?

[Miss_Grey]

Up the temp, instead of drop it? I thought there should be a pretty good margin between water and basking area temp to induce basking.

I was thinking of adding more light even before he started his daytime dozing. Will see if that works.

We were very social in Santa Monica and always had a lot of visitors, parties, etc. where people would fawn over him, play with him, the works. Here we've been kinda hermity so he doesn't get as much attention. He was raised in an office environment and he's an extremely people-social guy, way more so than any other slider I have met.

[steve]

I would up it a little just in case he might be a little sick but I would try to add more lights like you suggested first. Basking for a couple hours a day is still pretty good.