General Care Discussion :: New Turtle - Basking Issue! Heating

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

Hello,

Me and my fiance are new owners of a Red Ear Slider Turtle (6 months to 1 year, can't tell) and we have never owned one before. We do own a Chinchilla, (which are very demanding in terms of care, ex: needs to be at an exact temperature etc) so we can handle a tough animal. We are just having a little trouble with our RES turtle.

We bought him a 40 gal tank, thats pretty long and wide. It has a cut out for a filter, which I believe can filter 45 gallons of water but theres only 20ish in the tank. Some decor, and a Basking Site that is attached to the side of the tank but floats at the water level. Also a basking light, and a UV light. And several thermometers.

We have two books and have read online about how to take care of them, but no where does it say anything about how much basking should take place.

Or most major questions is : "How often do RES turtles Bask? How long? and How much do they NEED to be basking?" an associated question is "When you get a new comer, how long does it take for them to figure out how to bask and get used to things." that sort of thing.
The thermomer reads about "80-85 F" in the basking area. All the water thermomers read about "75F" but I think thats too cold (right?) so we are going to get a water heater today.

How often should we be feeding a turtle of this age? We have some Turtle Pellets that he seems to enjoy, what other foods should be included and how often? What did you guys do?
We are just very curious as to what is normal behavior for a new comer, because the book made it seem like they should love to hop on up and bask.

We have picked him up and put him up to bask several times but he quickly jumps back into the water.

He is pretty active in his tank, not so much in our hands. He hides his arms and legs and tail, but he leaves his head out to check everything out. (Is that bad?)
He seems pretty healthy. He doesnt have any brusiing, cuts, or swollen areas on his eyes, head, or limbs. He isn't shedding noticeabliy. I think his shell is okay, in the water it looks fine, once when he was in our hands it looked like it was shedding a few flakes on a few scutes but I'm not sure. The back edge has an indent as if a scute is missing but we believe he was living with an aggressive turtle. When we bought him, there was this other turtle that was much bigger and followed us around and tried to bite us through the glass. the store called him "Freddie" (as in Freddie Crouger) because he had LONG nails and was mean. So he may have been abusive towards our turtle.

We just have a lot of questions and we hope someone with alot of experience could help us out here.

Thank you so much!

Sam

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

The general water temperature throughout the day is 74-75 F.
The basking area seems to be at 85 F.
Our new turtle is NOT a hatchling, he seems to be between 6 months to a year old. He is about 5 - 6 inches long.

He isn't basking (that we know of) do we need to entice him some how?
Is the water temp safe? It drops to 72-74F at nighttime.

My books say keep the temp at 78-84 F (water) and the main part of this website says to do the same but a lot of people say 72-75f.

Also, if i need a water heater, how do you prevent your turtles from attacking the power cord?

[MommyShanna]

If you add a heater, make SURE to get a shatter proof one! My turtles get pretty rough around my heater (they dive off the dock when hoping they can beg extra food), so a glass one might get cracked easily. I haven't had any problems with aggression towards the filter or heater cords, but I suppose the simplest solution would be to stick them behind something (rock or other decor?) to keep them out of sight and out of mind.
I try to keep my basking area around 15 degrees warmer than the water. I have found that if they are too close in temp, the turtles wont bask.
I've had turtles for most of a decade, but I'm still learning a LOT from this site, so I'm sure you'll find plenty of info from the folks here- get all your questions answered in no time!
I'm also thrilled to find another chinchilla owner =) So often I say I have chinchillas and people look at me with this blank expression and say "WHAT?" or 'bless you'... =/

[Turk]

Hi, welcome to the forum!
I'll answer what I can and let the senior members take on the big stuff.

How often do RES turtles Bask? How long?
They should bask everyday. Mine like to bask for hours daily. I wouldn't time their basking areas to meet a quota, but let them bask naturally. I believe turtles will bask when they need to. We can't force them to anyway.

"When you get a new comer, how long does it take for them to figure out how to bask and get used to things."
It depends on the turtle's personality some will learn and adapt faster or slower. I'd give it a few weeks and try not too change too much like moving the basking area or decorations unless you have to.

The water temperature is fine, but you might want a heater for winter time.(You might want to upgrade your filter. The recommended filtration for turtles is 3x volume list on the box, the)

For feeding there are many different answers and I cannot say which is right. On this forum we have a discussion of everyone's turtle diet so we can compare. viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11684
I personally feed my turtles pellets once a day while i introduce him to some greens. Many on this forum feed turtles the amount of food that will fit in side the turtles head if it was hollow because it's the same size as their stomachs.
Also the Feeding and Nutrition section of the forum has suggestions for food viewforum.php?f=8

It takes time for turtles to build trust(We are quite big compared to our tiny turtle friends so to them we're predators). It's quite normal for your turtle to hide in its shell and peek out when you pick them up.

Shedding is normal for turtles.

To entice basking the water and basking area temperature should be about a 10F difference(If the water is too warm or the air is too cool turtles won't bask). Turtles also like their privacy when basking. You can try peeking around a corner to see if they're basking.(Until they get use to you.)

The site says to keep the water 75-79 for adults and 78-80 for hatchlings. 84F is probably too hot for turtles.
72F is okay for now, but you should get that heater.

If you turtle attacks your heater you can get a heater guard or make one from pvc pipe. You could also angle the heater so the cord is out of the water, but below the minimum water line. (Depending on your heater)

[slider_keeper]

Hello and welcome! Glad you found the site. It is good that you are doing research and don't worry the more you do the more you will learn. Just be careful there is alot of info out there, some good and sadly most is bad. This site and a couple other deticated to semi-aquatic turtles sites have very good and dependable guidelines for how to take care of your new friend. You said your turtle was 5-6 in. Based off that she is probably around 2-4 yrs old depending on how well see was taken care of. I say she because you never said she has long claws. The long clawed sliders are the males. Based on the size you gave, you should be housing your turtle in a 55- 75 gallon tank. They need room to swim around as you have probably noticed they are quit active with the warm temps. The bigger you go the better. For a adult male a 75 gal will do but for a full grown female you need at least a 125 gal. And a very good expensive filteration system is a most for a aquatic turtle. They are messy animales that live, eat defecate, and sleep in their water, not to mention they drink that same water too. So it must be cleaned to a high standard for the good health of your turtle. All the experienced keepers will recommend a canister filter. The XP4, FX5 and some more expensive ones are the best out there. I recommend the FX5 it is easy to clean and cost around $200 -300, and it will be the last filter you will need. As for a media goes check out the recommended filteration sticky. The writer is a expert at filteration and has alot of experience with aquatics. For the basking area temp, aim for 90-95 degrees. And for the water, get a water heater rated for the size of your tank. Jager heaters are some of the best out there. Adjust the water heater till you get a steady 76 degrees +/- one degree and you should be good to go. Like already said, your turtle will bask when your not around till she gets use to you. It may take a month or two for her to bask with your presence in the house. Don't worry much tho, they will bask when they want to as long as the temps are right. In the beginning it cost alot to setup the right tank but once you do they cost little to maintain. Best of luck with your new aquatic friend.

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

Okay, well we just bought a new Lamp (150 watt) and a new bulb (100 watt) to help increase his basking site temp. Which I believe to be 90F now so hopefully this will entice him to bask. We have a camera recording him so we can see if he basks when we aren't around.

If we find that he is NOT basking either with or without us, would it be a good idea to put him into a smaller, feeding container, and put the basking light on him there and make him bask? I just don't want him to not get what he needs. His shell already sort of concerns me so I want him to bask. He has been in water for almost 3 whole days...

We are just a little worried, thats all.

Would that be okay?

[slider_keeper]

just let him be for the time being give him time to get used to his surrounding it will take time

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

just let him be for the time being give him time to get used to his surrounding it will take time

okay, its just everything I've read from anywhere has pointed that its majorly important for them to bask. But we will wait and see.
Also, what is TOO hot for a basking temperature?

I think this new light is putting it up near 95f!

[steve]

Hi, welcome to the site.

You have a tank that is specifically marketed as a turtle tank, but as you have noticed it's very limited and you'll probably have to upgrade sooner because of it.

You should expect them to bask several hours a day, there is no specific amount of time. As long as they can freely and easily bask when they want to, that should be fine.

77-78 is ideal for hatchlings, larger RES do ok in 75 water. Just try to keep the temps consistent. If the temps fluctuate, then it would be a very good idea to get a heater. The main part of the site says 75-78 for adults.

Pellet amounts are described here: http://www.redearslider.com/pellets.html

Can you post a pic of the indented area? How is his shell?

If he is 5-6", then he might be older than 1 year. Growth correlates to diet, not age.

Try to keep the basking temps around 90-95F. A lot of the info above is good

[Touche the Turtle]

I find my turtle even at age 8 to be fickle when it comes to basking. Depending on her mood, and the time of the year it really varies how much time she basks. Just do what you're doing, and leave her be for a few weeks. You basically can't force her to do anything, just let her get comfortable with her surroundings.

Is her shell soft in places? What kind of indentation is it?

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

Hey, I've got an Important update.

Leo, our turtle, hasn't really basked this entire week. We have been recording him with a video camera while we have left the room or house and he only gets on his basking dock for about a minute then hops back into the water.
His Basking Temperature is usually somewhere between 92-96 F. And his water temperature is between 73-76 F.
We are really getting worried about him now, his shell has a few dark indented spots, a shedded piece dangeling from his shell, reddening on his plastron, and a flaking piece on his plastron.
In the videos, it seems he only can get around while using one side of his body to push up against the side of the aquarium glass. Almost as if he needs it for support, or he just has a blast doing it. Because of this, it always seems like he swims at an angle. He never really swims through the water, if he does go across his aquarium he kinda walks along the gravel. He usually stands on his tip toes if he needs to poke his head out. (This is our first RES Turtle, so we don't know what normal behavior is)

Because of this, we made a gravel ramp for him to get up onto his basking dock (we saw him struggeling to get on it in some videos. He fell off quite a bit) but he only goes up there a few times and for only a few minutes. Then he destroyed the ramp so he can glide along the edge of the aquarium and under the dock.

So we are just really concerned because it can't be good to not have basked for an entire week.
Also, just for your infomation so you can help us out, we have been feeding him only Reptomin Turtle Food Sticks (These pellet like things), and a small amount to. Only like 6 sticks, about the side of his head total. What else should we feed him if there is a health issue here?

He does have a UVB light.
His shell on all sides is still quite hard.

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

Other pictures...

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

more pictures...

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

and the last two...

[Love of Animals]

Only using one side to swim concerns me. Does he stick his feet out and try to use them or is he listing to the side while swimming? Most of us don't use gravel in our tanks. Many turtles will eat it and could possibly become impacted which could be deadly. Gravel can also lower water quality by trapping debris ( uneaten food, poop ). While we are trying to find out what's wrong with him raise his water temp to 80. The increased temp will help his immune system. Only do this while ill. Can you post a pic of his shell completely dry? Does he show any other signs of illness like swollen eyes, croaking sounds, yawning excessively, bubbles coming from his eyes or nose while out of water? Can he submerge completely easily? If you post a pic of your set up we can help you with that as well.