General Care Discussion :: How long ??????????

[Nikknik]

How long can a turtle stay under water. I am new to this and I have 2 babies. I am still trying to get my tank setup the way I really want it. 1 of thems eyes are closed and its mouth is slightly opened. I am worried about the little guys. How much time do they stay in water and how much time do the bask? It seems like that they bask all the time the only time the get in the water when I am home is when I put them there. Please help me. [/b]

[Ferd]

i think that somewhere i read they can stay under for like 3 to five min.

[jenaero]

I think it's more around 15 min while swimming/whatnot and a few hours when sleeping.

[turtlegrl]

turtles can stay under the water for up to one hour if these turtles are red eared sliders. Sliders are semi aquatic so they can't stay in the water tooo long, but can stay there until they are ready to come out. They will come out of the water on their own unless they get stuck. Make sure when you are setting up your tank that they can fit under the rocks you put in and make sure they can get back out.

[industrial_girl_2000]

My Sheba sleeps underwater all night long (she's an adult RES).

It sounds weird/gross, but the reason why semi-aquatic turtles can sleep underwater for that long is because they can take water in thru their cloaca ("anus"). There are a lot of blood vessels inside there & oxygen can filter thru the thin skin. Also, since they are sleeping, they aren't exerting themselves & don't need as much oxygen.

[Sprawl]

i've seen my shawn sleep underwater all night. maybe once or twice she surfaces breaths and goes back down...

she scares me when sleeping.. i guess she's not afraid of anything so she sleep sprawled out. her arms and legs going every which way, and her head will be hanging stretched out in front of her and some weird angle. i'll come in thinkin she's dead for some reason and wake her up just to find out.