General Care Discussion :: How long can they stay submerged?

[SouthpawSliders]

I know, I'm a little paranoid because I'm a new turtle keeper...

Sometimes I walk by their tank and I get nervous if they stay submerged too long.

How long can they stay submerged before it's a problem? is it different for hatchlings, juvies, and adults?

[ScrewZoo]

They know when they need air you don't need to worry about that. And they can stay underwater for a very long time.

[SpotsMama]

The only time it's a problem is if they get stuck in something underwater. Eventually they have to come up for air or they will drown. Turtles have been known to get stuck on the intake pipe of a strong filter, get stuck in a decoration, or get stuck between the wall of their tank and their basking dock. I'm telling you about these things because a new turtle keeper should check out the tank carefully to be sure there aren't any hazzards of this type.

[SouthpawSliders]

Thanks SpotsMama-

I have observed them in the tank carefully, and barring a freak occurence, I don't think they can get stuck in anything.

I put a coffee cup in there to make a little cave/resting area (an idea I saw here) and I got nervous once because one of them burrowed under the cup and just stayed there. I thought maybe he was stuck, but when I waved some food overhead to get his attention, he bulldozed out from there and came up for a treat.

Their tank is pretty minimal, some large river rocks, a coffee cup, heater, filter, therm probe, basking rock. The intake on filter isn't strong enough to suck them in, and everything else is not attached, so they can power thru it to get out of the way

[gt5268]

Hi.I also was afraid 2 years ago when I first got my 2 res sliders.I had no idea they could stay underwater for such a long time!! My 2 guys sleep under the water for a long long time!! It freaked me out at first but then I did some research and was amazed how long they can stay under water.

[drtweak]

Yes beware of intake pipes.......


Didnt think my small dinky thing was that strong but i was wrong...

And i was always scared of them getting stuck in small spaces like between the pipes and glass, the bars that hold up my dock ect. you can never be safe enough.

[camb]

about a year ago i had stacked rocks for a a basking spot and one day i came home form school and the rocks had fallen when she tried to dig the rocks out and she was trapped there for any where from 3-5 hours but i immediately called a vet because she was totally listless and luckily she had not breathed in any water. but after i had brought her to a vet and a couple hours went by she came back and started to move around. so we lowered the water level in the tank so she could rest and got a turtle dock in stead of rocks and soon after she was just fine.

[mikee]

S-paw-slide -- They can stay down an hour or two depending on size and health. They do dig a lot and will topple over anything that is not supported properly.