General Care Discussion :: Turtle basking

[Mandyb]

I recently built an out of tank basking area for my turtles. One seems to love it completly he's always up there relaxing... My female I cannot seem to get her up there I even left shrimp up there I know they are her favorite. She just simply won't go... The temperture in the tank is usually at 75. I've only had it for a few days now but what should I do if she refuses to go up there thus never basking... Should I jsut chalk it up to she's afraid of it right now

[TheComputerGremlin]

Definitely give it a few weeks. You'll probably find her wanting to explore it when the house is quite and no one is around. What is your ATBA like? Are the walls see-through or not? Sometimes if it's see-through, the turtle is more scared. I remember someone on the forum used that stick'n seal stuff (like plastic wrap) and stuck it to their tank and their turtle starting using their basking area after that. What is the basking temperature? I know you said one turtle loves it, but your other turtle may prefer cooler/warmer temps. Also, is there enough room up there for both of them?

I'd keep an eye on everything, keep leaving bits of treats up there to see if she grabs them, and remember that a lot of turtles won't bask in front of anyone. My turtle rarely basks when I'm around. I've seen her bask, umm, maybe 5-10 times in the last year+. Meanwhile, my husband always sees her basking and can even walk right up to the tank while she's up there (I always scare her off the basking platform).

[Mandyb]

its made out of eggcrate stuff lol... and yes there is definatly enough room for the both of them. the tempreture is at about 68-70 degrees. Its the same tempreture it was at when the basking area was in the tank. Shes never been scared to bask around me before either. I did manage to get her up there to grab some treats finally but she immediatly scooted back down....who knows guess we'll have to see how it goes...what do i do about the no basking thing though i dont want her not basking for a few weeks.....anything i can do to make sure she gets what she needs without closing her in that area. lol

[RESnTX]

The temp in the basking area is 68-70? That's not nearly hot enough. It needs to be a minimum of 10 degrees warmer than the water temp. Is that maybe the problem?

[bradmeisel]

definitely ... keep the basking area 87-90 if possible

[Mandyb]

shiat...i didnt mean 68-70...i was typing that on my phone i ment 78-80...but i guess even thats not warm enough hmm how am i going to warm it up though

[RESnTX]

You could add an extra ordinary light bulb if you have another light fixture you can set up. That would be the easiest thing to do. Otherwise you are looking at enclosing your basking area.

[Mandyb]

my basking area is an out of tank one now...it is enclosed....