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Hello... It seems like everyone's situation is different. I have have 2 baby res. I've had them for 3 weeks. They have finally started eatting and but they are still afraid of us.

However, my problem is that they have recently stopped basking. They used to bask in the basking light that we have provided them. We have 2 lights a basking light that gets up to 86 degrees and a sunlight lamp that is just on over the tank. We recently got a water heater that keeps the water at 84 degrees. they love the water and love to play in the filters 'waterfall' but over the past week and a half they have stopped basking and their shells are getting very soft. we just put a calcium block in the water so they get the calicum they need. they are also fed bloodworms, baby shrimp and krill and turtle pellets but i am concerned with the softness of their shells.

Should i make them bask in the sunlight? or do i need to find a way to raise the air temp? or are they being perfectly normal turtles?
Thanks for your help!

A water teperature of 84 degrees is way too warm. It should be about 78 degrees for a hatchling, and the the basking temperature should be ten degrees warmer than the water, or about 88-90 degrees. If there is not enough difference in the water temperature than in the basking temperature, your turtles will not want to bask.

turtles bask when they feel that they need to warm their body up., Your water temp and basking temp are too close to eachother which is probably why they wont bask. Up the basking temperature 10 or so degrees higher and your check on yout turtles every once in a while.

Thanks everyone for their help with the basking area and water temp. What should i do about the softness of their shells? will them basking help the shells get stronger?

soft shells is the result from not basking often

yea same here mine RES are babys and i have not seen one of my little babbys come out to bask and the other will so one is harder than the other so what do i do about that ?

The shells of hatchlings are more pliable than adult RES. Improve the basking situation and try offering some cuttlebone for added calcium. Also be sure to provide a full variety of leafy greens. This will add other needed nutrients to the diet.

i just tryed giving them romaine yesterday and my 2baby RES just went up to it and took a bite and spit it out at the same time and that was all so the first time i saw one of my little babys try to eat any thing

you didn't mention you have a UVB light. A UVB light is the source for the turts to generate Vitamin D13, which produces calcium in turtle's body. Calcium is of course the element for shell hardening. Doesn't matter how many basking heat lights you have, with no UVB, your turtles will lose calcium....

i dont have a uvb light yet but i wllget my RESbut they have a uva light tho