Other Turtle Discussion :: Afraid of light?

[AmazingAlex]

Hello,
I've got one little problem, when i take my turtle out of it's tank to let it have a walk it's always hiding somewhere out of light, like between bags or under furnitures in 1 corrner, why does my res do that?? any idea?

[Love of Animals]

Unless he is comfortable in his environment he will attempt to hide.

[theartbook35]

It's not a fear of light, it's a fear of an unknown environment. When we first started letting Sadie walk around, she would find a dark place and hide. All reptiles, especially turtles and snakes, will prefer to hide in a dark place because they associate that with being safe.

Once your turtle gets used to the smells in the home, it will stop hiding and start to get very curious. Sadie knows the whole floor plan of my apartment, and will try to push my mother's bedroom door open if I shut off access to it. Her, and my cat, will go under my mother's bed together and stay there sometimes, pretty hilarious.

[AmazingAlex]

ok i guess you are right, i didn't let Ralph walk around before.
btw. is it safe to let turtle and cat be together? I mean your cat can do something bad against your turtle
anyway, thanks for your reply

[steve]

I'd just avoid it, however dogs are much worse to keep around turtles.

[theartbook35]

ok i guess you are right, i didn't let Ralph walk around before.
btw. is it safe to let turtle and cat be together? I mean your cat can do something bad against your turtle
anyway, thanks for your reply

Depends on what kind of personality your cat has. Both of my cats are pretty cool around my 8 inch RES, Sadie. Spike (the Egyptian Mau) will follow Sadie around, sit with her, hide with her, it's really adorable. His breed needs constant companionship from other animals and people, whether it be human, cat, dog, turtle or whatever. My other cat, Jenny, is just very gentle, so gentle that my snake is not afraid of her. Not that I intentionally put them near each other, but, snakes will treat you the same way you treat them. The same goes for turtles as well.

If you think your cat won't be this nice with your turtle, then don't let them interact. Salmonella needs to be taken into account, although, I am pretty sure turtles stop carrying that as they get older. That is what I have heard, and, since no one in my home has gotten sick (my mother kisses Sadie's shell a lot), I'd hazard a guess that that may be true.

[AmazingAlex]

According to me you never know what your cat might do but what you do is your case.
moreover i didn't know the thing about salmonella (how great to read this forum) hehe,
and..i've got one more question, i've read on polish forum for RES that i shouldn't take away my turtle from his tank cause temperature in room's floor isn't high enough, is it true?? and might it be the reason why the turtle hides (for cold) or something?