Cant get red eared slider to bask.

[Stingray12]

Well I went to the petstore to see if they had newts and they had this little turtle, exactly 4 inches. It had a perfect shell so I bought him.

He is in a 30 gallon with a cascase 600 internal filter, 100 watt heater, and a big driftwood type of ordoment that has parts out of the water where it can bask. The problem is, I cant get him to bask, it looks very easily accesible to me, there is a heat lamp with uva light over the spot.

I moved it around and even build a different thing out of egg crate and a peice of tile, which was good but he didnt go on that.

Its been like three days, any suggestions?

 

[krzr3000]

Whats the water temp? If its too high the turtle may not bask.

 

[ceeej31]

what is the water temp? if its too warm he might not feel the need to get out and bask
^whoops, what he said

 

[Stingray12]

75 degrees.

 

[CTU2fan]

They can be shy, is it possible he's basking when you're not looking? Does he act normal otherwise, eating, swimming naturally etc?

 

[instantthc]

when i had a red eared slider i took a 100G and glued in a peice of glass about 10" from the back and put a stainless steel plated diamond ramp up to a peice a glass perched on top. he spent most of his time up there. if you go cheap, get a foam cooler and sand the top so it is essentially a ramp for him. but if you only got a 30G for him give up and take it back to the pet store.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

I agree, it could be the water temp but if it's a young turtle 75˚ is a fine temperature for it. Is the tank located in a high traffic area? They can be easily startled at first but after a while I'm sure the turtle will become use to you and bask when you're watching. Just give it some time.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

you just got to give it time too. once it is comfortable it will bask providing it is healthy

 

[Stingray12]

k, yeah its eating, i live in the woods so no traffic. Ill just wait thx.

 

[paul112]

Is the tank located in a high traffic area?

By this, VF means a 'high traffic' area of your house, such as a hallway, or somewhere people frequenty walk past.

Turtle's need to feel very secure and safe to bask, it's when they are most exposed to predators. If the tank is in the middle of the room for example, the turtle will very rarely bask.

Just give him some time. Three days is far to soon to be worrying about basking. It may take weeks or months for him to work up that courage.

Paul