Urgent Care :: Refuses to bask

[daredevilgirl013]

My turtle will not bask and I know you all will say he does it when you are not looking, nope. I have proof.

First off his top half of his body is fine, hard shell etc etc. This is because he will stick half his body out of the water and cling to half of the dock so therefore half of his body gets dried off.

Today I took him out to let him run around the living room, his back half is really soft and his front half is hard. I know he won't bask I have put cuttlebone in and he just looks at it like what do you want me to do with it, and won't eat it. He won't eat veggies or meat. But he will eat his pellets.

What do I do?

I have an idea but I need help. I figure when I'm home I just take him out, put him in another container with a rock in it that's been cleaned and put a piece of fabric over a tiny part and make him bask basically. I need to do something or else his shell is literally just going to go poof.

If I do put him in a "basking container" as I shall call it, I know not to leave him out for more than an hour, and maybe if I am making him bask I'll just keep it to half an hour time periods or until I see his shell has dried, but how often do I do this a day..a week?

I have his UVA bulb, and his UVB should be here this week so that will help. But I seriously need help, I don't need him getting shell rot. And I know since the day I've gotten him, he very rarely basked. I only caught him basking once and that was when I took him outside and he got bored.

Everything is normal in his tank, water temp is 76, basking area is 88. He has 5.5 gallons of water to swim around in. I don't know what to do.

[JessicaTS]

Maybe the tank size is interfereing with his basking routines? I'm not too sure. How big is your turtle?
I have tried the basking container in the past. But it was only done with desperation. And this sounds like one. I'm not sure if I recommend it, maybe someone has more adivce on that, but to my experience, it did work, but I'm not sure if it was with time or with the strategy. I used a big shoebox with a towel and a UVB and UVA light. I did fold the towel so that the corners did a bit of shade, but not enough for the entire shell to be covered with shade. I did this for about 5 minutes, twice a day for a week. Then the second week, 10 minutes, twice a day, which is extremely low for a basking period, but the second week, she started to bask on her own
Are you sure your turts not baskingwhen you're not in the room? I'd put a cam nearby to be certain

[daredevilgirl013]

He's just a wee bit over an inch and I know he's not basking, I have never ever seen him on his dock. And his shell has only been hard when I would take him outside. So I know since now I haven't had the time to actually stay outside and watch him, that his shell has gotten soft in the back end and by soft I don't mean oh it gives a little..it gives a lot!

He has plenty of room to swim as I have the dock on the far side of the tank and it's left side edge butts up against a corner. He has at least 7-8 inches of play before he gets to the start of the dock.

I'm thinking next change of water too or maybe I'll even do this later today is changing where the dock is. I'll put it on the other side of the tank as maybe he feels he can see us too much. I don't know.

And tonight I gave him five head size pieces of cuttlebone and only 2 pellets instead of his 5. I'm hoping he eats the cuttlebone instead since I gave him less to eat.

[steve]

What kind of dock do you have? They must be easy to access (climb onto); can you post pics of the area?

Can you make the basking temp 90-93?

5 gallons is not alot of water...

[lydia_lady_fla]

sounds like a very small area and this may make the turtle insecure.my little guy was in a 30 gall. tank at 1.5 inches and I was scared it would drown so I put extra water plants for resting on. my dock is made from pvc and a river rock, I catch the basking if I am quick lol post some pic. if possible. as for the cuttle bone my turt will not even nip at it,I have rolled fishing worms in the dust from the cuttle bone and this is eagerly taken.reduce the pellets and introduce plant veggies and fish, all this is in the stickys the forum is truely full of good info. have fun reading and good luck.

[daredevilgirl013]

It's a zoo med dock and he's in a lot of water actually with the 5.5 gallons. He should feel secure as he can't see us wandering around everywhere as I have in a non see through rubbermaid container. I know at the place I bought him his dock was just floating rocks that didn't even have a ramp for him to climb onto. I've got pictures of his tank, as you can see from the pic he isn't on his dock and he's hiding. The water covered ramp is where he will go and cling half on half off. He won't climb all the way up. He also will sit on his water pump a lot, but of course that doesn't help with basking as that thing has to stay in the water.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/daredevil ... pg&.src=ph

That's his tank. I'm going to take him out for half an hour this morning and put him in a basking tank so he'll bask. I just don't know what to really do, cause it can't be healthy to have a half and half shell and he needs to learn to bask.

[cam722]

Have you checked the temperature of the basking area? If the temperature isn't significantly warmer than the water, they won't bask as there is no reason to. They bask to regulate their body temperature. Check to make sure it's at least 10 degrees warmer than the water temperature.

[daredevilgirl013]

It is 10 degrees warmer in the basking area, he's just too freakin lazy to finish getting up on the dock.

I took him out today and put him in the basking tank I set up and it worked, he basked. (but only when I put him on the rock as he wouldn't go near it) But how long each day does he need to bask?

I kept him out for 55 minutes as I checked him at half an hour and his undershell wasn't dry. So I let him stay out longer.

[marisa]

When will he be able to bask under a UVB light (you mentioned he'd be getting one this week.)

[daredevilgirl013]

He got it today, it's already set up and I have him in his basking tank again with it on him. And I'm proud to say right now he is basking in his basking tank. So far no go on basking in his own home. So this may become a daily routine since he will bask in the basking tank. Plus I think he likes the U.V.B light.

[daredevilgirl013]

Can someone please tell me how many hours a day Mikey should be basking? I need to know as I only have him basking for two hours a day and I think maybe this is too little. Please help.

[marisa]

The amount of time a turtle basks can vary. Some days mine will be up there for only short periods of times, other days he seems to spend most of the time basking.

Are you still trying to "force" him to bask? This is stressful for a turtle and if at all possible it would be good to get the UVB light up over the basking area next to the heat lamp to see if he'll do it on his own now. Check the temp (88-90F is good), make sure he can get on the basking area easily, and give him some privacy.

[daredevilgirl013]

I have the UVB light set up next to his UVA but he still won't bask. Instead, he now constantly plays in the current the filter produces. And he still clings to the side of his dock and will not push himself all the way up the ramp in order to bask.

I did put conditioner on his shell today and he didn't seem to mind that, he actually kinda liked it. But he will only be getting that once a week.

I know it is stressful for him to put in another tank to bask but since he is refusing to bask still I don't have a choice really. I have been watching him when I can just to make sure if he is basking or not. Once he gets the idea to start basking on his own then it won't be a problem and I will let him do as he pleases. But until then his mom has to step in and do what needs to be done so that he doesn't get shell rot or just lose his shell completely because he's too lazy.

[flutterby]

It is 10 degrees warmer in the basking area, he's just too freakin lazy to finish getting up on the dock.

I'm sorry to say this, but that really irritated me. He's still a baby so I doubt he's being lazy. Could it be you're being too impatient? Could it be that there is something with his set up that makes it so he is not comfortable with basking? My turtle doesn't go all the way up the ramp to bask. I've had to adjust the lights and make it warmer further up on the basking area. It could be that the heat lamp isn't pointing toward the middle.

[JessicaTS]

I agree with flutterby. Hatchlings need the uvb and calcium to harden their shells, so I doubt he's purposely not basking. How close is the uvb and uva from the dock?