General Care Discussion :: My RES wont bask

[zeek]

Hi everyone,
my RES wont bask, its been like weeks now, she eats but she does not bask, I'm thinking the rocks are too high, but then again I she has been on them basking, but not recently. How long can they go without basking, because I have hear that if they do not bask, their shell will go soft, and that also worries me, when ever I knock on her shell, I can hear is a bit hallow, is that normal?

[VanishingReality]

She may be basking while you are away. Usually when I am away from my tank for a while, my turtle bask. When I walk near it again I hear a thud or plunk and he is racing around his tank.

[SpotsMama]

If you're concerned that the basking area may be difficult for her to get up on, then you may be right. Sometimes that's a problem. Can you change out the rocks for somethiing like a Zoo Med turtle dock or a piece of cork bark? Another benefit of something like a dock or cork bark (and there are several other designs on the market besides these) is that the surfaces are softer than rocks, so while rocks can injury a turtle's plastron, they can safely slide across a dock or piece of cork bark without damaging their shells.

It's not uncommon for young or new turtles to be very shy about letting you see them bask. If you think she may be a secret basker when you're not around, try putting a couple of pellets on the basking platform, then go away, then come back later and see if they've been moved.

[Bascomb]

Zeek -- Don't bang on your turtle. They don't like it and it scares them greatly. The hollow sound is the lungs and nothing to do with the basking. Check on your temps and make the water at about 76 to 78 degrees and the basking at about 90 to 91 degrees. They like the difference. The lighting should be uva and uvb. Good Luck

[steve]

Zeek, can you post a pic of the basking area and have you gone over this page? http://redearslider.com/basking.html