General Care Discussion :: New turtle owner

[Morocoy]

Hi all, I bought a young red eared slider from the store yesterday. I read up on alot of information before I got him, including setting up a basking area (stones allowing him to climb out of the water to dry off).

This is where the literature ends and lacking real world experience is showing. My little RES is only about 2 inches long, and he has been refusing to eat or use the basking area. He uses the end of the basking area to hang on so he can put his head above water, and he swims around to another spot when he feels threatened.

I have read that it is common for newly acquired turtles to exhibit this sort of behavior, however, I cannot help but worry. Can anyone confirm this is normal behavior for a newly acquired juvenile red eared slider?

[unclejoe]

Turtles can be shy when you first bring them home. About your basking area, do you have heating lamp and UVA/UVB Lamp? When I got Philbert all I had was a regular 75 watt incandescent bulb and he loved to bask under that. If you don't have heat over the basking area they won't come out to bask..

[steve]

What have you been trying to feed him? Does he just ignore it or checks it out first.

[Morocoy]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. Currently I do not have a light over my basking area, as i assumed the temperature here was warm enough for him when he came out of the water. Also, I thought it would keep him awake at night

[Morocoy]

I am feeding him pellets the pet store suggested. This morning the pellets from yesterday disappeared from my sight, so he either ate them or they sank behind the basking rock. I placed 3 more pellets for him and can clearly see a bite in one of them. It seems like he is eating, but I will monitor him over the next day or so to be sure as it appears he is only eating when I am not around.

[unclejoe]

From what I read, turtles will not bask if their basking area is not at least 10 degrees warmer then the water.. When I say ten degrees I am talking Fahrenheit.. I know observing turtles in the wild they would only bask in the sun. If the pond had a shady side they would all crawl out on the corner where the sun was. They need to feel the heat of the sun. The heat lamp replicates that and the UVB Lamp is extremely important for their health. For them not to get bone disease or shell rot. For an aquatic turtle like a RES to be healthy they need to get out of the water under either the sun or a heat source and a UVA/UVB source and completely dry off.

[steve]

And the light goes on when the sun rises and off when it sets. What's your water temperature?

[Morocoy]

Hi guys...I'm not sure of my current water temperature, I would need to buy a thermometer. I caught him basking yesterday and today when I got home from work. It seems like he only comes out when nobody is around, so far so good.

Moving forward it looks like I will need to acquire a UV light, some mesh wire and an aquatic thermometer to measure his water temp.

[steve]

It's normal for them to prefer to bask when there is less distraction. What's the mesh wire for?