General Care Discussion :: Can a turtle stay out of the water all night?

[ZooKeeper]

Tilly keeps falling asleep on her rock in the evening, I turn off her light and go back to check on her and she is still sleeping, I have to put her in the water. What if I forgot to go see if she went back in the water...would it hurt her to sleep out of the water for the whole night?

When I lift the lid (to put her in the water) she will wake up and look at me like I am bothering her. She usually doesn't want to go in the water but after she's in she settles right down and goes to sleep.

We are going on vacation in a few weeks and I don't know if our house sitter will feel comfortable putting her in the water.

[steve]

As long as the room temperature is around 70-80, then it should be fine. My turtles are kept out of the tank overnight when I do a complete or partial water change. What is the room/basking temperature? When my basking heater turns off, my RES will usually climb down after a few minutes.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Tilly keeps falling asleep on her rock in the evening, I turn off her light and go back to check on her and she is still sleeping, I have to put her in the water. What if I forgot to go see if she went back in the water...would it hurt her to sleep out of the water for the whole night?

When I lift the lid (to put her in the water) she will wake up and look at me like I am bothering her. She usually doesn't want to go in the water but after she's in she settles right down and goes to sleep.

We are going on vacation in a few weeks and I don't know if our house sitter will feel comfortable putting her in the water.

Not a problem. They always seem to know when they need to go back in the water. I have seen some turtles in the wild (on logs) sit there, in the sun for hours and hours at a time (sometimes all day!). Their shells are completely dry and they just love it! They hop in the water only when they get scared by something.

You don't need to put them back in the water periodically. They will go when they are ready. My turtle does the same thing. I will go to bed, she will be out of the water. I get up, she is still out of the water & as dry as can be! It's normal.

[marisa]

If the basking light goes out in the evening and my Tilly has been basking, he'll often just lay there for another 5 minutes or so before going back in the water (hoping for the sun to come out again, I guess). I think if you just let your Tilly be, she'd eventually return to the water when she feels like it. They can easily go overnight without being in the water, though.

[ZooKeeper]

Thanks for the reassurance.

She always seems annoyed when I wake her up to put her in the water. Now I will just leave her alone.

[fluffytheturtle]

I have an RES that is native to my area and I have her outside. She has a pond and a garden area also. She usually sleeps in the dirt/mud of her garden area and digs out a bed for herself. It is perfectly normal and fine for them to not sleep in the water. Mine even hibernated all winter long in her garden.

[sonyj]

...Mine even hibernated all winter long in her garden.

That is not natural for an RES though. RES in the wild will hibernate on the muddy bottoms of ponds or lakes. It's not good for them to be out of the water all winter from what I've heard. And it's not a good idea for captive RES to hibernate or for us to try to hibernate them. If the temp or conditions are even a little off the results would not be good for our RES.

http://www.redearslider.com/index_basic_care_3.html

[Spookster]

If the basking light goes out in the evening and my Tilly has been basking, he'll often just lay there for another 5 minutes or so before going back in the water (hoping for the sun to come out again, I guess). I think if you just let your Tilly be, she'd eventually return to the water when she feels like it. They can easily go overnight without being in the water, though.

Ours knows when the lights are going to come on in the morning so she gets up in her basking area and waits for it.

[steve]

RES in the wild will hibernate on the muddy bottoms of ponds or lakes. It's not good for them to be out of the water all winter from what I've heard. And it's not a good idea for captive RES to hibernate or for us to try to hibernate them. If the temp or conditions are even a little off the results would not be good for our RES.

2 things to consider is that I believe this is a previously wild turtle and that she's lives in a relatively warm area. I have recently read of some RES that have been found hibernating under logs and under hollow stumps. I've also heard of some owners that leave the turtle out of water and do not feed it. Regardless, I'm also still not convinced it is necessary to hibernate captive RES.

[fluffytheturtle]

RES in the wild will hibernate on the muddy bottoms of ponds or lakes. It's not good for them to be out of the water all winter from what I've heard. And it's not a good idea for captive RES to hibernate or for us to try to hibernate them. If the temp or conditions are even a little off the results would not be good for our RES.

2 things to consider is that I believe this is a previously wild turtle and that she's lives in a relatively warm area. I have recently read of some RES that have been found hibernating under logs and under hollow stumps. I've also heard of some owners that leave the turtle out of water and do not feed it. Regardless, I'm also still not convinced it is necessary to hibernate captive RES.

Well I did worry about her all winter long, but I contacted my local reptile association. They said she is ok to hibernate that way and it is the next best thing to water. The reason she did not hibernate in her pond is because it is not 2 feet deep. They need that depth to be able to hibernate in water properly. I am trying to figure out what to do this winter. We had the hole dug for the pond and it is about 6 inches shy of 2 feet at its highest depth.

She did absolutely fine though despite my worrying. I feed her in her pond everyday.