General Care Discussion :: 2 sliders. One basks all day, the other not at all

[RachelVanDoll]

I have 2 baby turtles that I've had for a month now. One is a RES and the other a yellow belly. The RES is about 1.5 inch, the yellow belly about 2 inch. Here's my concern:

The yellow belly seems to spend most of his day basking, the smaller RES is the opposite. I only see him basking now and then and as soon as I pass by the tank he jumps back in the water and hides. The yellow belly stays on his rock and isn't bothered by human presence. I worry that the RES isn't getting enough basking time because he's so scared and timid. How long do RES need to spend actually basking in the lamp? I have a 30 gallon currently, because they are soo small and will upgrade when they're bigger.

I worry that he'll start to mold. Do yellow bellies bask a lot more than RES? Or maybe he is a little older and not as afraid as the other? Should I set up a basking rock and lamp on the other side of the tank? I was thinking maybe it's a territory thing, but I've seen lots of other people's turtles that bask together. I turn the lamp off before bed and turn in on in the morning. Should I keep it on through the night so the RES can get time basking without jumping back into the water when someone walks by? (Since the humans will be upstairs sleeping) Or will he eventually because less fearful and more like the yellow belly?

I'm new to sliders and turtles in general, so a little help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Here's my little guys. The yellow belly basking as usual, and the RES hiding in the water as usual.

[SquidSox]

Idk why he does it but id suggest leaving the lights on at night. My Cumberland slider is so shy when basking and the tank is in my room so I worried she was never basking. I just got a night time uva bulb so it doesn't interfere with their sleeping. I keep the basking bulb on at night and the uvb bulb on as long as I can usually from 7am to 12am so when I'm not around and the bask they still get their uvb lighting and the light doesn't affect their sleeping then once or twice a week I turn all the bulbs off at night to kind of help save the bulb life and to keep if from getting really hot

[steve]

I think you need o give him some more time. Can you cover the side of the tank so he gets more privacy?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Like steve said just give him some time he will soon bask more often, my RES took about a whole week to start basking when I first got him. And RES spend a lot of time basking I always see my turtle basking.