whats wrong with my RES??
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:13 amby Boston_Zhao
As I posted earlier, one of my 3 res sleeps all the time. I took him to 2 vets already, the second vet is an expert in turtle, he keeps turtles himself. But he said my turtle didnt seem wrong, he just tried to decide whether he wanted to go hibernation, he suggested me to give longer lighting. So I light him 16 hours a day, but he is still so sleepy. However, whenever I throw him into the water, he wakes up, then swim for a while, he eats some shrimp, then goes back to the dock to sleep again, what is wrong?
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:21 amby cam722
What is the water temperature? Sometimes if it's too cold in the water they will bask excessively. They need the light/heat to regulate body temperature
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:27 amby Boston_Zhao
water is 78 degrees, as the doc suggested. and the basking area is around 85 degrees....
problem is the other 2 RES like to stay in the water, they even sleep in the water.
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:39 amby cam722
Ideally the basking temp should be 10 degrees warmer than the water temp.. high 80s to low 90s is what you should aim for.... I've not read all your posts.. just curious what size tank do they have?
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:44 pmby Boston_Zhao
its a 15 gallon tank, with 10 gallons of water
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:44 pmby cam722
Did you inform your vet what size tank you had your turtles in?? Ideally they should be in at the minimum a 30 gallon tank. Your turtle could be up on the basking area just because there's not a lot of space for 3 turtles to swim in that amount of water. 10 gallons is the minimum for 1 hatchling which is why I asked what size tank you had because I wondered if space was an issue
Is the basking area large enough for all 3 turtles to get on to dry off?? What kind of basking area do you have?
Also do you have a heat source AND a UVB source? UVB usually doesn't emit any heat .. they need both.