General Care Discussion :: Tito is become nocturnol(haha i dont know how to spell that)

[Safdar]

Tito will play around more, swim more and his begging gets to the peaks late at night
i dont understand
i even turn off this lights

He explores around, wants to bask

Hell stay up till 2 or 3 am
Thats when i sleep

During the day hes all hiding in bushes and its kind of hard to get him to get anything other than pellets

It makes me feel bad
Because he wants to stay awake and explore and eat and stuff
And im his annoying Dad screaming go to sleep and
Turn off your lights

Why is he acting like this

Any suggestions

Its like his whole bio clock has shifted

Thank you

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Sounds like he's scared of you and waits until everything goes quiet to come out (maybe your house is much more louder during the day). If you are watching him and being around him constantly, then stop. He needs time to adjust, and this could take weeks, there is no need to keep the lights on for more than what they need to. Turn the lights on at around 6 am and turn them off at around 8PM, if anything cover the tank with something at night (like a towel) so that he can go to sleep easier, and leave him alone as much as you can during the day and keep things nice and quiet 24/7.

[Safdar]

haha
nothing does on during the day
everone is at work
its equal all day
and theres nothing i do during the day, then what i do at night

thats the thing
Nothing about me or the house changes at night, its the same thing

i got home at 12 and he started to come out of the plants and went to bask

and also if he sees me hell start to beg for food
hell just stare at me while im eating something.......

this all takes place past 12am

[DavidY]

I've heard of others here who have had similar situations with their young turtles being night owls. I think covering the tank with a towel like Eddie aka saturday mentioned (similar to what you do with bird cages at night) was suggested with some success. But otherwise I think it's just a phase that they go through. What time during the day do you feed him? Maybe if you could keep him busy begging for food and swimming around during the day it will tire him out so he'll sleep at night, kind of like kids.

[Safdar]

I feed him right when i wake up
Like around 12ishpm
I know.... (its summer vaca)

The thing is he doesnt beg for food during the day

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Try putting the lights on a timer and set it for 6 AM to 8PM (then when the lights go off, cover the tank with a towel), put an alarm for one hour after the lights go on and wake up for a couple of minutes, feed him, then go back to sleep. It's what I have to do..

From my experience I have found that my turtles are more active during the day if they are fed early, i dont know why, but when I feed them around noonish or later they arent as active and they get kind of 'slow'. My vet was actually the one who suggested feeding them an hour after the lights turn on.

I think that after a while, giving him a correct and steady lighting schedule, he will turn around and be active during the day, and the opposite at night.

[Safdar]

Ya i think ill do that
Plus when school starts i have to wake up at 5:30 anyway
Itl help me get back on track, since ive been sleeping at 3 and waking up at 1

Thank you guys

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Ya i think ill do that
Plus when school starts i have to wake up at 5:30 anyway
Itl help me get back on track, since ive been sleeping at 3 and waking up at 1

Thank you guys

Some advice, dont buy any of those expensive light timers that they sell at pet stores. Go to any hardware store, home depot, lowes, ace hardware etc and purchase one. I bought both of mine for 6$ at ace hardware, hell..it sure beats the 20$+ price on the pet stores..

[Safdar]

Oh Wow
lol
k, ill do that
Thank you

[Safdar]

Haha if i dont feed Tito more than 3 Pellets like you said
He starts searching the floor to find stray food and poop......

[xsavingsaturdayx]

3 Pellets, and some veggies/aquatic plants everyday is all he realy needs. Dont overfeed your turtle, it causes a lot of problems, like shorten their life span.

Remember though, feed atleast two crickets/earthworms/feeder fish every two weeks. Make sure prey is gutloaded if it is live.

Another important thing to remember is to vary the diet. Lettuce is fine, but it doesnt have much nutrition. Instead, feed lettuce one day, then the next, endives, then the next collard greens, dandelion leaves, etc. Also throw in some aquatic plants in there too! My turtles LOVE anacharis and horn wort. Feed different kind of pellets too if you wish.

[Safdar]

A quick question
do i boil carrot if i give it to him.

And he wont eat crickets.... ill try again

[xsavingsaturdayx]

You can if you want. I never boiled carrot and my turtles eat them as a treat every now and then, i heard that too much isnt good, so its something to keep in mind. Also remember to wash all veggies extra good before offering it to your turtle.

You can try earthworms, but remember not to feed things too much. Every two weeks is more than enough.

[Safdar]

k thxs

[Safdar]

Just a quick question

How far should i keep the UVB from his basking platform