Habitat - Indoor :: Basking behaviour

[Caelestis]

Ever since I got my new tank all I see my 1"in+ turtle doing is swimming into the walls. On rare occasions though, I peek into the room and he is sitting on a wood decoration in the uvb light. As soon as I put 1 eye peeping at the door into the room with the turtle all the way across the room though, he jumps into the water instantly. All he can see is 1 side of my face. I'm surprised he sees me so quickly. I don't have a heat source for the basking spot yet, just a fluorescent bulb, will getting one fix this? Will he ever grow out of hiding from me when I get into the room? I also do not see him beg for food, what does begging look like anyway?

[Safdar]

Well how long have you had him
When you get a new turtle it takes atleast 2 weeks from him to get used to you and its invironmnet

Tito did the same thing, when i would leave the room he would start basking, but when i came back he would jump in the wtaer.

He will start trusting you in time

You need to have a heat source so he can bask. The temp should be 10 degress higher than the water temp

Soon hell start eat and begging( Tito stares at me and flaps his hands and just stares and when i get close hell just run to me and try to get some food out of me)

Again this is only right if hes New to you

[Caelestis]

He's known me for more than two weeks, but he hasn't been in his home for two weeks.

[Safdar]

? Where did you keep him before

How long has he been in his aquarium?

[steve]

You still need a heat source so he can regulate his body temperature. Most RES need some amount of privacy when basking. Thats why they shouldn't be in a room with a lot of activity. If the setup has been changed or is a new one, there needs to be an adjustment period. All animals can become stressed out, especially in a captive situation without enough privacy.

[myrtletheturtle]

myrtle does the same thing as soon as he sees movement or even when i turn on the lights he either starts begging and follows me around the tank or if hes basking he will jump in the water frantically and start begging bad habit for already being so young haha

[biomanz]

Sometimes when mine is sleeping while basking and I look at him, he would open his eyes, look at me for a sec, then dart away. Too bad I'm on campus now and he can't get used to me all that much.

[turtleowner]

how long have you had your turtle? it's probably nervous and it doesn't recognize you yet. He's soon going to get used to his new surroundings and eventually calm the heck down. Good luck to you and your turtle!

[Caelestis]

Since he won't let me see how long he basks, and what he does besides hiding in the corner, I'm going to hide a camera and record him.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Since he won't let me see how long he basks, and what he does besides hiding in the corner, I'm going to hide a camera and record him.

If you just got him 2 weeks ago, you still have a long way to go before he trusts you enough to bask with you in the room. And some turtle never get used to it. It all depends on the turtle. Patience is the key. Turtles are notorious slow learners. Teaching them that YOU are the food source goes a long way in teaching them to trust you. What I mean is, whenever the turtle eats, make sure you stick around while they eat, or try hand-feeding him. The more "food" interaction with him, the better. I don't mean "overfeed", I mean that whenever it is his feeding time, make sure you stay there so he starts to associate you with food. The way to a turtle's heart is thru his stomach!

[cleopold]

It might be a matter of personality. One of my turtles (Spazz) begs and doesn't seem to mind me, but she does run when basking. We have developed quite an interactive relationship. Honu on the other hand stays at the bottom of the tank when I'm around and doesn't get all that excited when I feed him. He seems more reserved. I keep Honu in a more secluded spot in the room, which suits him fine, but I don't get much face time with him. When I catch Honu while basking, he gets very upset running off the dock at full speed and then running around the tank. I don't know if he'll get used to me or not. It's been six weeks.

Oh well, I love them both. I imagine your turtle will grow to love you in his special reptilian way.

[dghenson7445]

I have had my turtle since May and he will still get off his basking rock as soon as he knows someone is looking at him. He is used to us because whenever he is not basking and we come see him he swims quickly to the front of tank to see us, but he just won't let us watch him bask. I sneak in from the side to watch him because I love it when they bask and their legs fly up.