For my 22nd birthday my family, friends, and I went to a reptile expo. I was thrilled as reptiles are quickly becoming my favorite type of pets (I have loads of allergies and reptiles are mostly non-allergenic). Anyway, while there I purchased a 1" peninsula cooter. It was active and very healthy looking. The people I bought my little guy or gal from is very reputable. My bearded dragon hatched from two of their breeders and was very well taken care of by them. I named my little cooter, Scooter.
Long story short, I noticed that Scooter was swimming kind of sideways. Poor little one started swimming more and more sideways and I noticed that he/she started "yawning" a whole lot. I called a local vet that sees turts and he told me to bring Scooter in. I did so and he gave me injectable meds for my poor baby who has an RI. I do feel bad sticking him with a needle but realize that its whats best and neccessary. In any case, my fiance felt bad for Scooter and bought him this awesome basking dock. (I had one but this one is nicer, lol) This new dock allowed me to raise the water level and so the dock is closer to the UVB and basking bulbs. As long as I have the lights on Scooter stays on the dock and won't go into the water at all. As soon as I turn the lights out, Scooter moves into the water. Is Scooter over basking? How long should I leave the lights on if he/she continues to do this??
