Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:46 pm Re: Some questions about my young RES.
Yes he or she wll bask when they feel that they need to dry out. When I first started reading this thread carefully, I was thinking of three areas possibly : (1) Was the bulbs starting to go bad? Meaning UVB and or UVA or both? Or (2) Was the water temperature somehow warmer than the basking area with possible lights going bad ? Was there any light changes or temperature changes to normal activity in the turtle room our outside the home, not enclosure.
My first thoughts resulted in thinking that maybe if there was bulbs going bad, water temps being warmer than the outside temps this would result possibly with the turtle in general seeking to keep warmer being a cold blooded animal. Any light changes that are not normal occurring in the room may of disturbed the turtle natural behaviors with the turtle possibly thinking what time of day it is. Look at Sea turtles for example. The babies hatch out late at night or early morning hours way before day light . When they hatch, they follow in the direction of the moon to get to the water. It was proven that if someone has a flash light or something bright, that the babies in some cases followed the flashlight instead confusing them.
Maybe as well, that with what ever the turtle was sensing , it is causing this issue, to the turtle it may be fearing something in temperature readings and or disturbed by other sources, To me that can result in the turtles swimming frantically. Reptiles in general can also sense temperature outside the home as well as high and low barometric measures. I known this when I bred snakes. The outside temperatures and barometric pressure assisted me in successful introduction and copulation's of my breeders and resulted successfully in my animals being gravid. In boa constrictors also, female boas will give live birth proven fact when they feel that there is a low barometric pressure drop that usually is followed by rain showers. It is theorized by many that the mother boas do this for rain to wash away the scent of the births to reduce the chance of predators eating the babies. Mother boas are one of few proven to protect their babies for a short time after birth.
But what I do not get is you said the heating and lighting is fine. If the turtle does it again, I would double and triple check everything and see what the different can possibly be. By keeping a log book where you keep say a daily , weekly and monthly report and checklist , you can make small entry's to compare what changes has transpired. This is just a recommendation that I started already doing.
Besides the things I mentioned, My sliders will get in the water and follow my body movements outside their large tank frantically if they think it is feeding time as well as you referred to as the turtles " hunger dance " if I walk by anytime. In general this behavior is adorable with the turtles recognizing their owners or activity around them.
Your turtle has some very nice patterns and colors. If red ear normal sliders were legal here, I would seek myself red ears with similar markings and colors to yours. It is adorable in all regards.
Confirmed Sexed Pair of Albino Red Ear Sliders, Baby Albino and Hybino Red Ear Slider and Adult Normal Male Red Ear Slider
