Habitat - Indoor :: ATBA......not working

[brandonsdad02]

Ok, so my ATBA isn't working. Its been about 2 weeks since I have done it and made several changes to it. I have made the ramp wider and bigger and they still won't go up to bask. I'm now blocking them up there for a hour at a time to make them bask. I'm wondering it the egg crate just won't work for them. Maybe it hurts their feet or something. I have rocks and ceramic tile up there for them to bask on. I'm wondering now if cork bark would work better now. Any suggestions on what to do and when to get cork bark??

Current set up..

[coreyvht]

maybe put some reptile carpet on the basking area maybe they dont like all the holes

[rsour24]

ive heard of turtle that wont bask if the do not feel comfortable with the baskign spot. like they feel vulnerable. maybe they just feel trapped when they go up. do they hang on the ramp at all? and where is the heat source? maybe they cant find it or something?

[brandonsdad02]

They do hang on the ramp. The heat source is right next to the ramp. There is a ceramic tile right next to the ramp on the top and the light is right above that. Last time before I changed the set up there was a aquarium hood on it and I just had the water lowered. They would go on the old one all the time.

[sull324]

Hey i understand your pain,i made several ATBA,maybe 3 with different material and design,eventually i reused all my materials to make this.

http://cameroid.com/i/2WSJR-A1

It took 10 minutes for them to go bask on it after it was done,even tough they would never try my ATBA.

Proximity to water is important,so they feel that they can escape easely.

The heat must come across the ramp,mine wont even think about climbing until they feel that big beam of heat in the face first.

The heat must be directed on some absorbing material,like a rock or ceramic tile.but not too warm.

This is so far the experiance i had with my 2 turtles,Hope it help out.

[coreyvht]

i trhink the dont like the feel of the eggcrate its got alot of holes and probably feels unstable get some artificial turf/reptile carpet

[SpenceMasta]

2 weeks isnt that long, since you're making adjustments each time you move it or something it becomes strange and brand new again, so your turtle is gonna be wary

i doubt its the holes that makes them uncomfortable, i left my atba there for more than a month until my turtle climbed up, now shes up there everyday, but whenever i move it to clean it or something she'll stay away from it for a week