General Care Discussion :: My turtle won't get out of the water...

[angelbear6781]

Okay, first I would like to say hello, and thank you for reading. I am new to this site and a new turtle owner. I did tons and tons of research before deciding to purchase a RES.
Here is my question...
We bought "Schofield" from PetSmart 3 days ago. He has not eaten anything (which I believe is normal since he is acclimating to the new conditions. However, he has not come out of the water into the basking area. His water temperature is about 78 during the day and 74 at night. The basking area is about 90 and I turn off all lights at around 8pm.
I tried to take him out and put him onto one fo the two basking docks that I have for him, but he freaks out and jumps right back into the water.
Should I be concerned at this point or should I just give him more time?

Also...off the subject...how do I add a picture of my turtle near my name like many of you have? I just think that's cute

THANKS A BUNCH !!!!!

~Angelbear~

[sneakyburrito]

just like you said, your turtle is just getting used to its new home. Its perfectly normal for your turtle to no bask for the first few days. My turtles didnt bask for almost a week. for future references, you shouldnt force your turtle to bask. Turtles bask when they feel that they need to up their body temperature. but the fact that your turtles are not basking yet is normal "shy turtling" lol(made that word up).

[angelbear6781]

Okay, thank you sooooooooooo much for the tip. I more or less put him on each area one time just to make sure he knew they were there. I'll let him be for a few more days and hopefully he will be all set.
On a brighter note...right after posting this, I went in to check on him, and he was nibbling on a piece of romaine lettuce!

[sneakyburrito]

how big is your tank?

[angelbear6781]

40 gallons (40 inches long x 18 inches wide)...water is 7 inches deep...turtle is 4 inches long

[sneakyburrito]

another advice is to always fill the tank with as much water possible, but just enough that your turtle cant escape. RES are water turtles, and so the more water you give them to swim in, the happier your turtle will be. For every inch of turtle, you need to have at least 10 gallons. so you always want to fill up your tank as much as possible to accomodate their size.

[TurtleFreak 65]

Thats weird because my turtle did the same thing when I first got him, but after awile he gets used to his habitat and has no fear when going on his basking rock.

[TurtleFreak 65]

Thats weird because my turtle did the same thing when I first got him, but after awile he gets used to his habitat and has no fear when going on his basking rock.