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okay, I know I have asked some of the same questions in different posting but here goes... I'm showing some pictures. Hopefully that will help so I can figure some things out.



This is where I feed him.



This is what his current set up is like. The lamp on the very left is the heat lamp. The bigger one is the uvb lamp. I was hoping that lighting the ramp would help him go and bask.



This is Niko just resting on the ramp and getting some air. He just won't bask! He just won't go up any further on the ramp. He will just hang from it.

The water temp is 75 degrees and the basking area is 85 degrees.

Is my set up all wrong?

any comments or suggestions or critisim is very appreciated, thanks so much.

He may just like to bask chillin in the water...My Bonnie wont come out to bask during the day because their tank is by the front door and I leave it open. She prefers the real sunlight and just hangs off her Dock same as your turtle is doing soaking in the natural light, but if the door is closed then she goes into her basking box out of the water. The light still penetrates into the water. He may just like to hang out that way ..prolly just a preference

I would cover up the sides for as long as possible and give him some privacy. It's possible that he's not ready to use that basking area (it wouldn't be the first one that was refused) and you might have to revert to an older one or try a different one.

I'd raise the basking area temp by a few degrees.

What is the ramp made out of?

If you're using the heat light to light up the basking area, perhaps it's warming the ramp (and surrounding water) just enough so that he prefers hanging off of it rather than trying to climb it. He might be more attracted to the basking area if he didn't have to climb a brightly lit ramp to get to it.

If you're staying in the area watching and waiting for him to bask, don't. If you can, try to watch him where he can't easily see you.

Try to raise the temperature in the basking area to 90 he might bask then.

okay, I will raise the temp a bit more in the basking area.

Today my boyfriend came home and NIko was on the basking area, but ran down really fast of course!!!
So he was up there all by himself!!! I'm so happY! hehe. Hopefully he uses it again more and more.

He is even chasing the feeder fish now! I didn't realize it took some turtles a good two months before they get really settled into their environement.

The ramp is made of wood. So would that make a difference?

I will move the tamp too.

Maybe he loves me after all

Thats wonderful, and I'm sure he does

Did you cover the sides? If not, you should try to get him to bask as much as possible

I was asking what the basking ramp was made of to see if the material had enough traction so he could climb it (some materials are more slippery than others). Apparently it does.

hehe! I did cover the sides. I'm so happy that he is finally getting used to his new home and me. Things are going better! Thanks so much guys. You rock!