General Care Discussion :: Update on the lovely Bella

[Vfrey77]

Bella seems to be doing well. She's still obsessed with "swimming" against the walls of her home, but overall she is calming down nicely. She's also learned that the mysterious "hand" is what brings food, and she was quite friendly and calm when I fed her. What a little piggie! She eats and eats and eats. But she isn't shy about telling me when she's had enough. She just turns and walks away, lol.

Still haven't seen her bask yet. I've got an overturned ceramic flowerpot in there for her. I'm wondering if she has trouble getting onto it, or if she just doesn't want to leave the water yet. I'll feel better when I find her sitting on it.

God bless

[marisa]

Does she have a way (like some sort of ramp) to get on the pot? They often need something to "dig" their claws into to help them on the basking area.

[Vfrey77]

No... I can't think of how to make a ramp that won't take up a ton of room in her tank. I live in an apartment, so I don't have access to a lot of useful stuff, like rocks, bricks, pipe, etc. Throw me some ideas!

[Vfrey77]

Ok, I am trying the Turtle Dock.. AGAIN. She is a master at getting herself stuck in it every which way possible. She already got stuck again between the ramp and side of the bin...I moved it over an inch or so. Let's see what happens. I know she can get on the dock, she's done it before. I removed it because she loved getting under it and getting stuck. Maybe this time it'll work.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Sometimes you just have to play with what works. Turtles are like kids.....not everything works for every kid either!

The good thing is that there are several different kinds of turtle docks out there. They have the floating one, but then there are the acrylic docs that stick onto the side of the tank with suction cups too (that's the kind I use for my very big/heavy RES). There's no way to get stuck between the tank wall & the dock since there is very little space there due to the suction cups. You can get this style dock from Dr. Fosters & Smith website.

[octpusgirl8]

One of the nicest things about those acrylic docks is how far they extend into the water. It makes it really easy for the turtle to get up onto the dock, and gives them a nice little resting area. Mine likes to sleep on the ramp at night.

[SpotsMama]

If you're using one of the zoo med floating docks (floats up and down with the water level, has a little plastic frame with suckers on it that sticks to the tank wall, looks sort of like rock but actually made of a styrafoam type material), then you need to take a couple of precautions to make sure Bella doesn't get badly stuck and drown.

Turn the little frame upside down so the horizontal bar is at the top instead of at the bottom. Also, don't use the underwater suckers. They aren't necessary.

If you do these things, the dock will move more freely and Bella will be better able to get unstuck if she needs to.

[Vfrey77]

Thanks for the website Kristin, I'm checking it out now.

I already turned the Turtle Dock bracket upside down, and I am not using the lower suction cups. But Bella STILL tries to wedge her way between the dock and the side of the bin. Typical stubborn woman, I guess, lol. I'm going to take a look at the acrylic ramps. Thanks!

[marisa]

Have you thought of using corkbark? You could wedge it between the sides of the container (not too tightly) so that Bella couldn't get between the two.

[Vfrey77]

Where can you get cork bark and how much does it cost?

[marisa]

The cost depends on the type of piece (flat vs. curl vs. tube) and weight. Places like www.lllreptile.com and www.blackjungle.com sell it, but you can do a search for other retailers as well.

If you need a smaller piece (don't know/remember how big your tank is), I've sometimes (twice, actually) have found pieces at Petsmart. The store nearest me gets in pieces very rarely, and they're usually not that good. About a month ago, though, I did find a relatively good piece among a display of really crappy ones for $6.99. It will most likely be used as a ramp to a basking area.

[Vfrey77]

Thanks everyone! I've 'caught' Bella on her Turtle Dock twice today! So that's a relief Of course, she jumps into the water as soon as she sees us coming, but I'm just glad to know she's getting around and basking like a good girl.