General Care Discussion :: turtle and heaters

[canadianturtleowner]

hey everyone im new here i just got a baby res he is about 1 1/2 inches long his name is stripe and i just was wondering if anyone could answer this question stripe is a lot of the time hanging around the heater i have in the tank either right underneath it or on top and it and i noticed recently he has been trying to push it up when he is underneath it he does have a place where he can bask and it does have the proper lighting so i don't get why he is doing this im wondering if he is just playing with it or what im just worried he may get burnt if anyone could answer this question that would be great and thank you for your time

[Karawr]

My turtle likes to "redecorate" his tank. One morning I woke up to find all the plants had been plucked from the bottom and were floating on the top. He might just be doing this, but I'd wait for some other answers...

[happycamper]

Is your water temp right? Maybe he is cold?

My turtle tests everything in the tank to see if he can move it, or jam himself behind it, or pop it off the glass. Could just be playing around.

[canadianturtleowner]

i checked the temp its fine for him so maybe he is just playing around but if anyone else has any other answers to my question that would be great

[steve]

RES are curious and inquisitive, so they like to move things around like Karawr said, but they also like to dig, climb and squeeze into very tight areas. This unfortunately sometimes leads to getting trapped and drowning so do make sure that it can't happen with your tank.

He won't get burnt as long as he's not trapped next to it. Make sure he has additional resting areas that don't pose a hazard.

[mikee]

Sometimes you can't give an answer as to why a turtle does what he does. He is a reptile and answers are not easy to come by. If you can situate the heater so it cannot be moved is an idea. Just make sure he cannot get wedged behind or under it. If he realizes he cannot move it he may just leave it alone. Good Luck