General Care Discussion :: Basking Question

[SDFTurtle]

I just bought a RES, "he" is about 3.75 inches long so far. It's his first day in his tank.

29 Gallon, and I built a "ramp" I guess you could say to lead up to the basking area, basically what the store had in their tank.


Anyways, I have had him for a little under a day and he has yet to bask. The temp in the basking area is about 85 degrees, and his water is about 74 degrees. I have a heater to keep it at 74 and he basically just swims towards that area.

When should I be concerned if I havent seen him bask yet?


Thank you.

[camee1991]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I would say that your water temp should be at least 78 degrees and the basking temp should be around 10 degrees higher to entice your turtle to bask.

But since you just got it today...you may come upon a few issues as in...it probably wont bask..eat or do much but be scared for quite a few days. Sometimes some do things faster. It needs to realize that it is safe there and adjust to the new environment. Dont worry at least for the first few days

If you are a 1st time RES owner you may wanna read up on the BASIC CARE Section on this forum. It may help answer TONS of questions before you even have to post them! (But dont be afraid to post! Someone will always be around to answer:) )

Again, welcome and Im sure your little one will bask soon!

[SDFTurtle]

Great, thank you for your response.


I have fed him some ReptoMin food sticks and he has appeared to love them so far.


I'll give him a few days to see if he basks, I think I might need to increase the basking area temp about 5-6 more degrees, its about 84.



EDIT:


I just walked into the room and he was basking, as soon as I saw him he dove into the water, at least I know hes basking, just a private one so far.

[SpotsMama]

He's been adjusting to his new environment. If he's basked at all so soon it's a good sign. Sometimes they don't eat or bask at all for a week or more when they are new because they're so nervous.

Do you think the basking temp is around 88 or 90 degrees now? Warmth is what motivates them to get up and bask. If the basking temp is too cool they won't bask enough. Basking lets their shells dry out (which is critical to shell health), the warmth helps them to digest their food, and it's when they get exposure to the good UVB light (critical for the health of shell and bones.)

[SDFTurtle]

The basking area apears to be at about 87-90 degrees in that range, so I think I might have finally gotten it hot enough.


I have 2 heat lamps, one is bright and right over the basking area, I also have an infared one for night, which basically over the "shore" where water and land meet.


I also have the long UV light going most of the day, except for about the 8 hours I sleep, and it appears he took advantage of that and slept as well.

I think I might have it all going strong, day two looks to be a success so far.

Thanks for the help.

[SpotsMama]

Sounds good!

In the future, you can discontinue the night time heat lamp. Most turtles sleep in the water so if the water temp's healthy (78 for less than 4" long turtle, 75" for a grown one) then they are fine overnight sleeping in the water and don't need heat over the basking area.

[DIANTE]

give him a few days to ajust to his new habitat try hand feeding him so he wont be scared of you