General Care Discussion :: not sleeping

[monolithmaji]

At night to keep the temp up in the cage i leave a red moonlight bulb on the only thing in the tank besides a filter is the basking rock which the bulb covers. I am up at all hours and when i had put some big lettuce leafs in there i noticed they slept kinda floating on the top of them. well the past two nights i have put less in there so they eat it by night time and i have not seen them sleeping. I am thinking that i need something else in there for them to sleep on cause it would be to hot for them to sleep out on the rock and the water filter is kinda strong and if they stay still the current pulls them towards it.

[Rocky YBS]

what is the water temp?
some turts act differently when the temp changes when the temp is too hot they will lose thier appititeand possibly find it difficalt to sleep.
is there too much light coming from the moonlight bulb?
light could put them off sleeping a bit, only because my turts get put off.
my turts cant sleep with any tipe of light on.
that is why i turn all the lights off, with just the heater on (the light only turns on when the temp falls below 75.)
and my filter stays on too.
try turning the moonlight bulb off and see what happens.
for the lettuse thing, maby they just wanted to relax,
im not too sure.
see what other people sudjest, maby they have more help than me.
keep us posted.

[DavidY]

Maybe he needs something to rest on closer to the surface so he can sleep. Try putting another rock or piece of drift wood or something so it gives him an area that's only deep enough to cover his shell. Maybe that might help.

[monolithmaji]

well i cut a gallon milk carton in half and put a piece of cloth over it to make it shady (so it wont be so bright at night in it) and put a rock thats big enough for them to sit on it with out being out of the water. hope this works

[SpotsMama]

My turtle rests in the top of a plastic plant that extends to the surface of the water. He really likes it there.

[monolithmaji]

can turtles sleep underwater? i noticed there not sleeping in the gallon there sleeping under there ramp inbetween the ramp and the milk carton. do you think after awhile they will get use to the light and start sleeping or will they not sleep when its bright out?

[iac637]

I have never had a moon light in my tank before, all of my turtles sleep underwater which has the heater to keep it constant. I would say that they may not like the light and would prefer a dark room to get to sleep at night. Then at 6ish every morning all of the light turn on because they are on a timer. (The whole house gets lit up) I would say turn off the light and see if they sleep

[industrial_girl_2000]

can turtles sleep underwater? i noticed there not sleeping in the gallon there sleeping under there ramp inbetween the ramp and the milk carton. do you think after awhile they will get use to the light and start sleeping or will they not sleep when its bright out?

Yes, turtles can sleep underwater & many do!

If you are worried about too much light, you can always put a blanket or large towel over their tank (like people do with birdcages to put birds to sleep).

[iac637]

the problem is he turns on a red moonlight at night, so even covering it there will be light

[industrial_girl_2000]

There is no need for ANY light on for a turtle's tank at night.

I was just under the impression he stayed up later & that he was concerned that the light he was using himself was bothering the turtle.

[DavidY]

A lot of reptiles cannot see the red part of the light spectrum very well if at all. I use those bulbs on my tropical snake enclosures to maintain night time temps. I'm not sure about turtles though. Try going without the light for a few nights and see if that helps them sleep. Also as SpotsMama suggested, put some plastic plants in the water and see if they sleep on that, especially since they liked sleeping on the big lettuce leaves before.