General Care Discussion :: Turtle biting her rock

[Maramultiversal]

I have a baby red eared slider. She's a girl and her name is Leo, in case anyone cares. The problem being tonight she's suddenly started biting at her basting rock. And that's ROCK. With an "r". On purpose. I don't know what a basking dock is but I don't have one. What I have is actually about 1/4 of a cider block...But that's her basking area and tonight she's started biting at it out of the blue. And not just nipping, but like trying to take chunks out of it! Anyone know why, in Destiny's grand design, she's doing this? She's not aggressive in personality, and her food's label boasts about it's calcium content.

My town is tiny, we don't have a pet store, let alone a reptile doctor, so I have to turn to the internet. Which has been a barking nightmare.

She doesn't like anything damn it! Last week I put some decorative rocks in her tank, set some up to help her get onto her basking area easier, she wouldn't go near it! This turtle is going to kill me!

[steve]

Sometimes they just target things in the tank. My male RES used to have a resin basking platform that he would used to bite. I didn't see it as a problem until he chipped his beak. I now have a cork platform that he likes to bite but it's safe to do so.

[Maramultiversal]

So is this not a thing to be concerned with?

[steve]

Shouldn't be but I'd remove it and replace it with something different. Also, be extra careful with your fingers around her

[Maramultiversal]

replacing it isn't really an option right now. And she doesn't bite me. Never has, she doesn't seem to see my hands as something to bite.

[TurtleyCustomDocks]

Greetings Maramultiversal. I have 3 yellow belly sliders and the biggest (apple) is about 7 inches. Anytime I clean the tank she likes to bite the rocks and pretty much anything else that has been moved. My solution was to remove all things small enough for her to swallow and luckily she has never chipped her beak on the remaining things. A "basking dock" is just a term for the area out of the water where you put a heat lamp to help your turtle dry off. Here is an example of my basking dock


If your interested I can custom make one for you.