Habitat - Indoor :: My turtle hardly ever comes out of the water to bask

[Pito007]

the water temprature is 79 and the basking area is 89

i sometimes see her hang on the ramp and stick her head out, but I never really see her fully out. She should be used to her tank by now, the last time I changed the setup was atleast a month ago. Is it possible she just likes to stay in the water most of time?


Also, she hides in a corner when I get close to the tank, is she just too afraid to bask?

[megcornell]

She may be too shy to bask in front of you. Sometimes you can sneak in the room when they're basking and hear them run off the basking dock or you can see if the basking area is wet from the turtle crawling up.
How long have you had her? It can take a while for a turtle to get comfortable in front of humans.

[SpotsMama]

Another thing to try would be to raise the temp a few degrees and see if it helps. Some turtles like it warmer than others. Mine basks best when the temp is in the low 90's.

[emma]

How do you know the temp. of the basking area?

[Pito007]

How do you know the temp. of the basking area?

I use thermometers

[Pito007]

So I snuck up on my turtle and I found him basking but once he saw me he jump into the water, I guess he is shy. I'll try to keep that room as quit as possible. Thanks

[megcornell]

I'm glad she's basking! It took my turtle a few months to let me see her bask, they can be quite shy!
Does she beg for food from you? Once the turtle associates you with food they generally become more sociable.

[Pito007]

she dosnt beg, she used to go crazy when i would move her from her tank to her feeding container, but now shes a little more calm when I move her.

[Billy Black]

My turtle is still shy about basking, and I've had him just over a year. He tends to watch me if I'm in the room, and he still basks, but will randomly leap into the water and hides in the corner for about five seconds. Then he climbs back up.

I have a theory that his eye sight isn't very good when he's above the water. If he's on his platform, he's terrified of any movement, but underwater, he swims right over to me. Also, when I drop food in, if his head is above the water, the food could literally be touching his face and he won't see it. Once he drops his head below the surface and looks up, he sees it right away.

[Sgt. Pepper]

My turtle won't let me watch him bask, either. The second he realizes I'm in the room he dives into the water and swims all over the place. I know he's basking though because when I come into the room he doesn't notice at first and I can see him basking. It's so cute!

[GotEmInOkinawa]

It is quite the privilege when I get to see my little guys all splayed out on the rock together... I did get lucky once, and caught DC basking while I assume he was sleeping, and managed to get some nice pics before he zoomed off...

[SpotsMama]

Give them a few more years. I've had Spot for a number of years now and he's so confident he'll let me pick him up off his basking platform.

[FLhaven4strays]

Give them a few more years. I've had Spot for a number of years now and he's so confident he'll let me pick him up off his basking platform.

Ditto SpotsMama. Liza has been with us for about a 1 1/2 years now, and doesn't leave her basking rocks when people walk by her pond....unless they stop to feed her. I can also pick her up from basking easily - and even put her back on the rock & she'll stay. On the other hand Mercer still dives away if he sees a person. Each to his own.

[TomGirl]

I never wanted my turtle to be shy, so I never put objects in her tank in which she could hide behind. As a result, she doesn't care who watches her bask. She's an exhibitionist and she's really nosy.