Habitat - Indoor :: Floating Turtle Dock

[hrly]

I have a 55 gallon tank and I have the large floating dock. Every time I try to used the dock, she gets off to the side and gets stuck between the glass and the dock. She is a red ear slider about 3 years old, pretty big now, maybe 5-6 inches. Any suggestions?
Thanks

[penelope]

Are you referring to the turtle dock that sticks to the glass with suction cups? If she is gets stuck with her head in the water, she could drown - not good.

Here are a few things I've done before:
Just let the dock just float around, and adjust the basking lamp to cover a larger area.
If she's too big to sit on the dock without support, you can try floating bark.
Try some drift wood - wedge it in the tank (very carefully) as a stationary basking area.

If you take the drift wood route, be sure it doesn't have a lot of sharp edges and that, when secured, it has a large enough area for your little girl to sit on. I always try mine out in the empty display tanks at the store ~ they don't always like it, but....they usually get over it.

[hrly]

yes, the one with suction cups, and I surely don't want her to drown. will try just letting it float around. If that doesn't work, I'll have to check out some other options. The 55 tank is plenty long enough, just not quiet enough width. thanks

[SpotsMama]

Cork bark makes a very good, natural basking area. Here's a link to where you can get some. Look towards the bottom of the page:

http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/me ... _Code=WFWH

I think some turtles will have difficulty getting on a raft that's free floating. If you get cork bark, get a piece that's wider than the tank then cut it so it can be wedged firmly between the walls of the tank.