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After chatting with a few turtle owners, I discovered that some turtles sleep out of the water, unlike my Tiny who prefers to sleep hanging upright in a bush. She pulls her head and front legs in and stays under for up to 5 mins. with a tiny little bubble on her nose, comes up for air and goes back under to sleep.

I'm just curious if the majority sleep in or out of the water. Is it better for them to sleep in or out of the water, or is it simply turtle preference that is ok.

The more respnses the better, as I am using this as an exmple of a research survey for my fourth graders. We plan to graph the survey results- 3 bars- in water all night, out all night, in and out(restless sleepers!), and other, if there is another way.

Please tell me where your turtles sleep. Thank you.

My turtle always sleeps in the water. He sometimes "naps" on the bottom on top of his bubble disk, and he sleeps for longer periods resing in his fake plant with his nose at the surface.

Thank you for your quick response. How long does he nap at the bottom? Does he nap during the day?

I think you can create a survey when you make a post, that might be more helpful. As for my turtle, best as I can tell, he sleeps in the water, propped between the filter tube and the wall. I've gotta get him better sleeping spots, though ... His tank is "under construction."

Fred sleeps between the wall and filter tube with nose out. While Scarffie sleeps on a large rock with her nose out of the water. I am still working on the perfect tank set up so this is a great question to use for research for me as well!

Lately Spot has been sleeping most of the time in a clump of plastic plants that he's pushed into one corner of his tank where it's darkest. Sometimes he'll sleep other places - usually standing with one foot on a decoration so he can easily raise his nose above the water to get a sniff of air. He's always under water during the night except that he often falls asleep basking at the end of the day and he stays on the basking platform after the light has turned itself off until, I suppose, he cools off completely and then he goes back into the water. He does nap off and on during the day, sometimes on his basking platform, sometimes in the water.

Three of my turts sleep under water. I do have one Eastern Painted who insists on sleeping on the basking area. Even if he's in the water when the light goes out, he'll be up on the basking area like a rock when morning comes. In the summer, when it's really warm, a few of my turtles like to sleep on the basking area if they're inside. If they're outside, they all sleep under water (I think they feel safer).

Frankie just falls asleep where ever she happens to be when the light goes off. Either on her basking area, or on her underwater platform. Sometimes if "someone" is being particularly noisy, she'll slide off the basking area into the water, but she's a pretty sound sleeper. Funny you should ask this now, because I just got a couple pics of Frankie sleeping last week:
This one looks like she was on her way down into the water but didn't quite make it:


I really think I need to make Frankie a pillow!


She sleeps normal hours, in that she's awake when the light is on, and asleep when it's off.

Now Ralph, he's another story completely.
I think I've been a bad influence on him, because he stays up as late as I do (sometimes as late as 1am). But then he's awake before I am in the morning!
He usually sleeps on the ramp to his dock (so in the water, but not on the bottom), but I've only seen him sleeping once or twice in 13 years. He seems to be a very light sleeper and as soon as he senses you looking at him, or even thinking about looking at him, he's awake and begging for attention

At night, one sleeps near the surface supported by a plastic plant and the other sleeps on the top of an underwater cave.

During the day, they take naps underwater in this one particular corner (I'm not sure why). They're too afraid of people so far to sleep out of the water.

. All mine sleep on the bottom. Nature has dictated this, as it is the safest place to be. Mine "snooze" while basking. I would not call it a deep sleep

Speedy sleeps on top of the filter but it is in water. Once in a while we catch him sleeping under his dock and along those rails that keep the dock stable or in his plants. I think the plants are more of a napping thing. He goes to bed after me but i catch him in the morning sleeping, but about 3 minutes after lights kick on he is up. I even wonder at times if he gets enough sleep. When we first rescued him he was in one of those island tanks and he went to sleep with my son and woke up with him he was always one leg out and one arm out. I feel that is all he did but now in a big tank is he to reved up

I can ramble about him for hours pretty sad at times.

I can't belive how each turtle seems to have it's own unique sleeping preferences. That Frankie cracks me up too!

So far the majority prefers water, but still some like the dock. Of those who sleep out of the water- What's the air temp or location as far as state you live in???

Thanks so much for the great resonses. Please keep em coming- I'm very intrigued by your different turtles.

When my turtle was little, she slept stretched out on the bottom of the tank (in the basking pose underwater!) or hanging vertically off her basking dock. She would also sleep in her flower pot; she's definitely too big for that now!

I'm not sure how she sleeps now because I never see her do it. She goes to sleep after I do and wakes me up before I do - to beg for breakfast. Perhaps she naps while I'm at work.

The outside tank temperature here is 70-74 degrees here, but can go as low as 68 on the cold nights.

Hurley sleeps on his resting dock. Before I put one in, he used to sleep on an aquarium decoration. Since his tank is in the living room and lights are still on even though his lights are out, I put a cover over that section of the tank. He sleeps pretty good unless we get really close to the tank, then he begs, flutters at himself,re-arrange the glass pebbles on the bottom of his tank, then goes back to sleep. His resting dock is low enough for him to be completely submerged but high enough for that he can just stretch his neck to get a breath.