General Care Discussion :: Basking?

[spaceapple]

My turtles spend ALL of their time in the water. The only time I've ever seen them bask since I got them (last month) was when I had them outside for a while before I got a UVB bulb. They loooved the sun, but I know it must have been too hot for them out there. I got them a new 10 gallon tank about two weeks ago, and I thought maybe they just needed some time to get used to it before they decided to bask. But I've seen nothing. I sometimes try to sneak up to see if they're basking while no one's looking...but they're not.

The water temp stays around 75 and I recently increased the basking temp to about 95 in hopes of encouraging them. Does anybody have suggestions..?

[Raphulk]

how big are your turtles?
how does their shells look, meaning to say, do they still look ok even if they arent basking like you say?

[spaceapple]

They are just 1.5 - 2 inches each. And as far as I know, their shells look fine. They would both bask in front of me when they were in the sunshine...

[Raphulk]

when they were basking with you outside, were they also in a tub of water?
what im trying to figure out is if they chose to bask, not thats all they could have done.

[spaceapple]

Yes, they chose to. I was actually keeping the big temporary critter-keeper aquarium deal they were in outside.

[LeslieMW]

my turtle wouldn't bask either, so instead of dropping the food in the water, i dangled the food infront of my turtle so that they knew i had food, and then i would leave the food on the dock so he would run up and grab it.

i think it taught him to like the dock! he'd run up there and check for food and then he'd just stay there and start basking.

[Raphulk]

hmm i guess there are a couple questions i have before i decide im absolutely stumped:

1 is the basking dock easily accessible
2 is the water temperature vs basking temperature as it should be? (mid 70s vs mid 90s)
3 are your turtles as healthy as you think? (maybe they are sick, probably not)
4 is there a lot of activity in the space their tank is in? maybe they see something moving and are frightened.

[spaceapple]

Leslie - I sometimes lure my turtles onto the basking area with food too...but they always scramble off as fast as they can!

Raphulk -
1. My basking area is a large piece of driftwood. I'm pretty sure they have no trouble whatsoever getting on it, because they will readily climb up it for food.
2. Water temp is around 70-75, basking temp is about 95. (I recently moved the heat lamp a little closer to try and encourage them.)
3. The turtles don't show any signs of sickness. They are acting perfectly normal other than not basking.
4. The tank is in the main room of the apartment, but no one is there for most of the day. They are in an entertainment center, so they can only see what's going on from the front of the tank, not side to side. They do get very skittish when they see anyone but me walking around.

[Raphulk]

hmmmm. im stumped. maybe they are shy?
you might have to try "force" basking.
in that i mean putting them on a towel or something (enclosed so they cant escape) and let them sit under their lights without getting in the water.

[steve]

What kind of basking light are you using?

[spaceapple]

I caught them basking today! My fiancé said that he sees them basking sometimes...thanks for telling me! Thanks for your help, guys.