General Care Discussion :: lack of basking

[Prettylady]

We brought Buddy home on the 21st of December 2012 and he is about the size of a toonie. I have only witnessed him basking once since he has come home and I watch him quite frequently. Is he just scared of his new environment or is something wrong? Please help! Cheryl

[steve]

It can take some time to adjust... more importantly, what are his basking/water temperatures and is he eating?

[Prettylady]

I am currently using a 75watt halogen bulb for his basking spot. His basking temp is 92 and water temp is 78, he is eating his feeder fish and the wisteria...does not like his hatchling pellets. He loves playing and hiding in the hornwort...I want him to have a habitat as close as possible to what he would get naturally. When can I expect him to become more comfortable in his new surroundings?

[ljapa]

Halogen will provide heat. Do you have a UVB light? Turtles need UVB light to synthesize vitamin D3 which allows them to metabolize calcium--form new bone. The water temp and basking temp sound good. Is it possible he is basking, but just jumping down when someone comes by? My son's turtle will swim right up to me looking over the tank, but the only time I see him basking is rarely for a few seconds if he's not paying attention as I come in.

I usually know he was just basking by all the bubbles stuck to his shell after I come in.

What kind of feeder fish are you using? Some contain thiaminase, which can cause a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency if over eaten.

Your turtle is eating protein and plants. You're doing good. The pellets may come by removing feeder fish for a bit.

[steve]

I agre with ljapa... you'll need to give him more privacy. It's good that he is eating something though... is his basking area easy to climb on?

[Prettylady]

We actually do have another lamp, however I have obviously been misinformed by the pet shop about the bulb I should be using...what do you recommend for the UVB light? Are we going to have to decrease the wattage of the halogen bulb after we put in the UVB light? Is there one bulb type that we can use for both heat/uvb and is it suggested? And you are right about him basking he is just scooting back in the water when he sees movement...I saw him basking this morning !!!

He has rosy red minnows...before I put the minnows in with him was wasn't eating anything! The first day I put the fish in (approx. 5 days after purchase) he hunted and and ate 3 of the 6, I put in. I then bought 10 more and we are down to 11, as of this morning. I fed him some pellets thiis morning and he gobbled them up! Is it absolutely necessary for him to eat pellets? As I said I would like him to have a life that follows his natural habitat as closely as possible...and should I move his tank from the livingroom to my son's bedroom to give him more privacy or will the move upset him more? If I leave him in the livingroom what privacy measures should I provide for Buddy? Would it give him enough privacy if I partially covered the front of his tank with my house plants? I believe it is easy for him to get on his floating lily pad...it has a gradual ramp up from under the water and the hornwort is all around the lilypad and I notice that he uses it to climb up to the edge of the pad. Will he now be lacking vitamin D because of the misinformatin I recieved from the pet store? Thank you so much for answering all my questions

[ljapa]

Yes, pet stores are famous for not knowing how to care for a turtle.

I have a compact fluorescent UVB bulb in addition to a heat lamp. Since you already have the halogen, I'd just get a UVB for now. It des not add heat and can be used with your halogen. I'm told the UVB output drops off before the visible light does and that the cfl UVB's need to be replaced every 6 months.

They do make mercury vapor lamps that provide both, but they are more pricey.

As to your desire to provide a more natural diet, rosy red minnows do contain thiaminase. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/ ... minase.htm

In the wild, your turtle would probably be eating more insect larvae, small crayfish, freshwater clams/snails than fish. It certainly would not be eating just one type of protein. You may want to reconsider the pellets as a supplement with any live food.

I don't know that you need to move the tank. Our original tank started in my son's room. I started reading on his bed and Toby eventually started basking when I was there. Now the ank is in the basement and I never see him bask. I think you can leave the tank and your turtle will become used to the activity.