General Care Discussion :: Turtle refuses to go into water!!

[rjstrough]

My 23 yr old female RES has been up on her rock for three days straight and won't go into the water to eat. In the beginning, she would jump in and start jerking her head all over the place seemingly disoriented. We just checked the water quality and it is fine as well as temperature. What to do??

[steve]

Are there any other symptoms? Is she alert and responsive?

[rjstrough]

Are there any other symptoms? Is she alert and responsive?

she is aware of my presence and will react if I try to get her attention. She used to be in the water alot and only on the rock for a short while to dry the shell. So this is a bit unusual.

[steve]

Well, 3 days is a long time and fairly unusual. If the basking light was off, would she still bask? Has she eaten at all?

[cchipres]

It's winter, maybe she just wants to brumate outside her water for awhile. My turtle will hide and sleep in back of my closet for several days and sometimes even weeks at a time. When they are very young and still growing, they will sleep even longer.

[mikee]

If you have a slider it needs to stay in the water. Their life is a constant drying off and getting wet. I am not sure about you keeping it in your closet.