Habitat - Indoor :: turtleshellproblemthing

[yomama]

so new setup for turtle and the water is a little deeper than usual. and ive stacked up rocks so that it can reach the basking area but then its not going on there, will the shell rot or the skin like tear ooff if it styays in the water for too long?

[steve]

Does your basking area have the necessary requirements? Can you post a pic of it?

www.redearslider.com/basking.html

[marisa]

Make sure those stacked rocks can't topple. Are they graduated at all to make it easier for your turtle to get on the basking area? If possible, you might consider some sort of ramp, which wouldn't take up swimming room in the tank like the rocks do (and which would be safer).

What's the basking area made of? How long has your turtle not been basking?

[yomama]

well actually today i went to petsmart and bought those zoomed docks. well its been on it but its been resting on the water on the ramp but not getting on the top exactly.

but originally, it basks. just that it doesnt know how to get on top of it. now I understand all of it. thankyou:]

[SpotsMama]

ZooMed dock - good! Better than rocks. Turtles are cautious. It will take a little while - maybe even a week - for him to feel safe enough to climb up on his new basking platform, but he will come around.

Problems with rocks - (1) can topple over and crush a turtle (2) take up too much valuable swimming space (3) usually too rough and can scratch and injure a shell. In the wild, turtles usually bask on logs or muddy embankments - things with soft surfaces. Sometimes rocks, but not rough ones.

And yes, if they don't come out to bask and dry off completely - top and bottom - they will eventually get shell and skin infections. But that won't happen in a couple of days. Takes weeks of not being able to dry off to cause a problem.

[yomama]

thanks for ur help spotsmama! now i feel more comfortable knowing that!