General Care Discussion :: my slider stays out of the water for several hours

[atjurhs]

Hi,

I'm concerned about my slider because he chooses to climb up on a log that's in the tank and stay out of the water (on the log) almost all the time. He did this before I got him a basking light and he still does it underneath the basking light.

I have a water heater and I fill his tank with either pond water or spring water from the grocery store treated with turtle drops.

Any ideas?

[dumbork14]

hello. this may be related to the water.

-how old is the turtle? what's his/her size?
-what's your filter?
-how often do you change water?
-what's the brand name of the turtle drops? (some drops may be harmful)
-do you have a water test kit that can test ammonia/nitrates/nitrite?

[atjurhs]

We actually have two yellow bellied slider turtles and the one spends far more time out of the water than the other

To answer your question:

- The turtles were "collected" this past April/May time frame
- We have a Tetra Whisper filter with Bio Bag replaceable filters. The filter is rated for a 25gal tank and we have a 10 or 15gal tank
- We add more water about every 3 days because it evaporates, and we changed their water every 2 months or so
- Most of the time we use pond water, but sometimes we'll add in "Spring Water" from the grocery store, when I use the Spring Water I add in a couple of drops of "AquaSafe for reptiles and amphibians (it has a picture of a red ear slider on the front) I also sometimes add in a drop or two of Bacteria Supplement by Top Fin
- I don't have a test kit or a water thermometer, but there is a water heater in the tank, that was said to be used with turtles.

[dumbork14]

you said you have a water heater but no thermometer? maybe the water is too hot? my advice is to get a water thermometer (the stick-on type/LCD type). the ideal temp is 78F.

[atjurhs]

the water is definitely not too hot, it feels a little cool to me but the water heater is working, I can get a temp guage.

any other ideas?

[michaelg]

Is the turtle that basks all the time sleeping a lot while it is basking? It's not unusual for turtles to bask a lot. Outside, my turtles bask most of the day if nothing frightens them off. That's normal. They'll jump in the water for a few minutes to cool off and then climb back out.

What is not normal is if turtles sleep a lot while basking. The turtle that basks a lot could be showing signs that it is sick. Put him in the water and watch his behaviour. Does he sink or float. If he floats, does he have trouble going under water? Does he lean to one side while he swims at the surface? Does he eat? If he floats and has trouble swiming under water and he leans while swimming, it can be a sign of a respiratory infection (RI) or another problem.

-Michael

[atjurhs]

When he goes in the watrer he swims around just fine, no just floating, not sideways behavior, just regular swimming, and when in the water he will also climb up on rocks.

I'm feeding both of my turtles carrot slivers, carrot tops, squash slivers, the green turtle pellets (about one third of the time) and the dried shrimp once a week.

I'm planning on adding other things to their diest as well.....

[atjurhs]

The water temp is right at 78, so I guess this little guy (or gal) likes to bask more than the other

[dumbork14]

okay. good thing they just want to bask.

[vinny67]

Red-Eared Sliders can bask a whole day.

My RES has not basked for the last two days but today she was basking for about 6 hours or so.

[PridgNYC]

Yes, as long as temperatures are within what they want, they can bask all day or stay in the water all day. They use basking/bathing as a mechanism to regulate their temperature. That is why you always want too keep a 10-15 degree F difference between the water and basking area. Water temps below 72 degrees F will make the turtle lethargic though.