Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 5:30 am Turtle depression?
Hi. I recently lost my map turtle, Turtle Tuck, after having him for nearly 10 years. I still to this day don't know the cause of death. I also have had a female red eared slider, Murtle, in the tank with him for the past 3.5 - 4 years. They got along really well (sometimes too well when Tuck would try to very unsuccessfully mate with Murtle, the larger and different turtle species) but they would swim together, bask together, stack on top of each other ect. But now that Tuck has passed Murtle rarely seems to come out of the water. In fact in the last 2 weeks since he has been gone I have only witnessed her bask once on one of the two basking areas. She mostly just hangs out under the basking log/dock thing. She comes out and begs for food when I approach and does eat and she will do some swimming around, but she mostly stays under that dang log. She used to always sit and bask, she was the basker and Tuck was the swimmer. Nothing has changed in the aquarium as far as heat, water or lighting, so I am wondering if turtles could become depressed and if she could actually be depressed? Will she go back to her usual self? But more importantly, can spending too much time in the water be bad for her? Should I take her out and make her bask?
