Urgent Care :: My turtles eyes are closed while basking!! HElp!

[CV Cream]

My turtle was sitting under the basking lamp with his eyes closed. Is this normal? Because i have read threads where turtles that kept there eyes closed might be sick. Or is it possible that he is just sleepy..?

[wetchikn]

He could just be chilling or he could actually be sleeping....is he active otherwise?

[sonyj]

Most of the time when they feel comfortable and are enjoying their heat, they will close their eyes and appear to sleep. But it's a very light sleep, because they will still be alert if you make noise or to a lot of movement.

Signs to watch for illness are swollen eyes, mucus from the nose, yawning out of water, and lethargy (not active or moving from basking area all day).

[TurtleBot]

Normal, he is just taking a snoozie!

Mine always has his eyes closed while basking.

[Pokey's Grandpa]

My turtle does that all the time. He is usually fine. I once had a box turtle who had a problem where he could not open his eyes because he was not getting enough moisture. With RES, it's not really a problem because I don't know about you guys but my little turtle can't stay out of the damn water for a minute, he love to swim!

[sonyj]

My turtle does that all the time. He is usually fine. I once had a box turtle who had a problem where he could not open his eyes because he was not getting enough moisture. With RES, it's not really a problem because I don't know about you guys but my little turtle can't stay out of the damn water for a minute, he love to swim!

There have been cases of RES's eyes becoming too dry and crusted shut if they bask too long and there's not enough humidity/moisture in the air. Overall, though this is a rare occurrence.

[Spookster]

Our turtle closes her eyes too. It's a light sleep because if I walk up and make any noise she opens them back up and gives me a dirty look for disturbing her sleep.

[CV Cream]

lol

[sQuirtle]

Spookster, my turtle does the same thing. sQuirtle either gives me a dirty look for waking him up or he wakes up suddenly looking around as if hes thinking "huh where am i" lol

[samandnelly]

Haha, they do that. Mine sticks his back legs up in the air though. LOL

[scripta_elegans]

I think the fact that they close their eyes and stick all of their appendages out as far as they can when basking is both amazingly cute, and also a sign of comfort. If the turtle is relaxed and cozy enough to snooze on it's basking platform, great! He or she is content. If on the other hand the turtle doesn't move when you, say pet it, it could be a sign of illness. If all other behavior is normal, I wouldn't worry. Nicole

[Ferd]

mine love to get right under the heat lamp and do "turtle Yoga" where theystick there legs out and rotate them untill they get the best heat possible like a solar panel. When they finish this, they turn atound and to the front. then they move to a cooler area and go t sleep. when i come in thoug, they dive into the water and swim like there carazy or somthin

[cprcheetah]

Zeke does that too...he trades off which leg he holds up. He also dives back into the water if anyone sees him....think he's embarassed to be in the 'buff' sunbathing...LOL!

[senecaty]

Yup, Fred is so comfortable while basking he'll usually just pass right out! The other day I came downstairs and he was out! Head, arms and feet all dropped! It was tres tres cute!!! I wouldn't worry about it unless you see any of the other symptoms mentioned above!

[frioverte]

my turtle is doing that and i think he is dying. this is not his normal behavior, his eyes have been closed all day and he is inactive.