Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get a slider to bask. It apparently does'nt want to get out of the water, and has to be taken out manually to dry out for awhile. This turtle was also a wild turtle that had been injured pretty severely crossing a road but is now recouperating(has been to vet) well. Could this be part of the problem. Thankyou..blinkymac101
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How to get a slider to bask?
blinkymac
Oct 08, 2003 10:22 PM
Replies (1)
Odyssey
Oct 09, 2003 10:59 AM
Basking turtles... of all kinds... do so in response to light. Outdoors this is not a problem; the light is (surprise!) just exactly the correct intensity for them. And the water always stays cooler than the air, so, even if there's no breeze, they can slip into the water to prevent overheating.
In an artificial environment things are different. It's difficult to get light that's the intensity of sunlight (or even close to it) without overheating the tank, water, and everything else. This problem can sometimes be partially solved by having the tank light very close to the turtles (the phrase "a 40 watt bulb 6 inches away" comes to my memory but you should check on that), so you have a "basking spot." But that works best if the tank is very large and, thus, would have some cooler spots in it, away from the light.
In a small tank... it's just very tough to do.
And, yes, if I was almost killed crossing the road, I might want to be cautious for awhile, too.
