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i have never seen my res bask. i have a turtle dock and a light but he never gets up on it he stays in the water all the time. is this okay?

not really. turtles need to dry off in order to keep their shell healthy. how warm is the basking area? how long have you had your turtle?

your turtle may be basking and you don't know it. depending on where your tank is, your turtle may hear you coming around a corner and dive into the water, making it appear like he never basks (my turtle did that!) try setting up a webcam if possible, or sneak up on your turtle.

if he is never basking, you need to make sure the basking area is warm enough. it should be about 10 degrees warmer than your water (water-74, basking area about 86)

yeah what zoologist said.

My RES have been basking but there are times when the male sees me and plunges back into the water. The female usually keeps on basking and lets me pet her head.

Have you read over this page? www.redearslider.com/basking.html

gel-2 If you are sure that he is not basking watch your water temps. Ideally the water should be around 75 to 78 degrees and the basking about 90 to 91 degrees. They like the difference in most cases. Again, if you are sure try and make you difference more and more. Drop the water temp a couple of degrees and up the basking temp a couple of degrees and that should do it. m.