General Care Discussion :: Why is my turtle hiding???

[bre2266]

I have only had my baby RES for about a month and a 1/2. Turtle lives in a 20 gallon long tank with thumb nail sized pebbles built up on one side. He has plenty of water on the other side and an area for basking. At night he likes to burry himself under the pebbles untill he is almost completly covered!! Can some one please tell my if this is safe and why does he always do this!?????
Thanks

[scripta_elegans]

Your baby turtle would do that in a pond in the wild too. He feels safe and camoflaged buried in pebbles. Little turtles are a snack for lots of predators, so they like to hide and feel as if they can't be seen. S/he is having a good healthy reaction to movement, which is the old "dive and hide" for baby turtles. If the pebbles are the size of your turtles head or smaller, they are a risk for impaction, or a digestive tract blockage, and should be removed. Also, Red Ear Sliders are aquatic, and should have as much room to swim as possible without the possibility of escape out the top of the tank. (They are shockingly good climbers!) I have found that my little turtles will hide in a plant over almost anything else. They dive head first into the thickest part and try to be motionless. It's really funny, because they seem to be fine sometimes, and others they decide we might eat them after all!

[flutterby]

And to add t what scripta said, the basking area should allow the turtle to get completely out of the water to dry off.

[CountryGirl68]

Do you have any decorations in the tank? Like Scripta said, they like to have some place to hide. You could add a fake plant so the turtle can hide behind that instead of burrowing into the pebbles.

How big is your turtle? You should heed the advice given and remove the pebbles to avoid any problems. You can get a basking platform that adheres to the tank with suction cups for the basking area. This allows swimming space underneath the dock.

[bre2266]

Well im glad to hear that hes not sick! Yess the turtle has more water where he can swim in the tank and also lots of basking room as well. He is only an inch and a 1/2 big so his 20 gallon tank is huge compared to him. The pebbles are actually large compared to him, so i am not worried about him digesting them. I will buy him some fake plants to put in the water though. Thanks for the replies!!!

[tissigirl]

He's doing it because he hates you!!
Ok, totally kidding! LOL

Yes all turtles like to hide themselves especiallly when sleeping. I've had my turtle for 17+ years and he still does that. He is very picky about how his tank is arranged as well, and if I clean it and don't get it right for him he gets ticked off and spends the next couple days getting it back to the way he wants it. LOL