Habitat - Indoor

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:35 pm **water too deep?**

i posted my habitat on another petcare forum w/ the specs. yesterday someone posted that i had my water too deep. i read in the turtle texts that it should be okay as long as they don't struggle to reach the surface they should be okay. they swim through the tank and go up to the surface with no hassle whatsoever, they actually make it up pretty quick.

my little ones are 1 3/4" and 2" the water level is at 50 gallons. about 16-17" deep.

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:43 pm

Isn't it odd that the misperception that RES don't need a lot of water is so pervasive. I hear that over and over again. You just have to look at them swim to realize how adapted they are and how much they love it.

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:47 pm

i thought it was a little off, especially since they seem to love it vs. having trouble with it. thank you very much!

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:04 pm

If you ever see their cousins, the painted turtle, basking on a log in the middle of a pond, as soon as you get close to them they dive into the water and swim to the bottom. I usually see them in 3 to 6 feet deep water, but I sometimes see them in areas where the water is close to 10 feet. They are definitely excellent swimmers and seem to be able to float on the surface without any trouble.

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:07 pm

We have lots of wild sliders in Texas and they do exactly the same thing.

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:01 pm

yeah i was told many times ''raise the water level, they'll love you for it!" so i did

i just wanted to be 100%

i told them i did appreciate the advice, but they're okay

i also told her to bear in mind that in the wild they live in deeper water in the wild.

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:01 pm

K i was told at the pet store to have the water low enough that when they stand up on the bottom they can stick their heads out...so i lowered mine to that....is it a bad thing. My turtle seems to like it...hes forever sticking his head out. .. Hes the one that wont come out to bask - in case anyones read my post.

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:09 pm

It's best to provide a deep area where they can swim freely, and then the basking area where they can climb completely out of the water. You could also put another platform or piece of rock or wood that is partially submerged so they can rest on it and still hold their head out of the water, but that isn't necessary as they are excellent swimmers and can float at the surface easily.

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 10:09 am

that is way too shallow, your turtle will be very weak when it gets bigger if you keep it like that

turtles and terrapins love to swim around in the water, and come up to the surface and hover. this also helps them build their muscle tone since they are working against (in my case) about 400lbs of water weight.

i had to put john in shallow water when he was sick, and i did notice that he was not very fond of the setup at all. the deepest the water got was 2 gallons/2½" and the annoyance he felt from that was pretty obvious. the happiness he felt being back in the big tank was quite obvious too

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:40 pm

Ok thanks...i will raise it back up...is half way full good enough for now because he is really little yet?

Habitat - Indoor :: water too deep?

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