Basking

TerryTerrapin

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Dec 3, 2014
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Ireland
My Map turtle doesn't bask much, and when he does it's never for long enough to dry off.

The first pic is of his tank, note the built in turtle dock. There are a couple of problems with this - I don't think he likes the texture of the fake grass so he goes nowhere NEAR it and if I place him there he jumps off straight away. And if any of the fake grass falls off, he tries to eat it. This has resulted in me having to take all the green stuff away completely.

(Second picture) To combat this problem I got him a rock which is tall enough to come up over the water and he does use that. Excuse the poor photo quality, but you get the idea

(Third picture) Now I have seen him crawl up on to the rock, bask, but it's like he just goes from one side of the rock to the other and then decides to bail and jump back in.

Is this a temperature thing? Or a shyness thing? Maps are known to be shy baskers right?
Currently when he does bask it's under a Repti Glo 13W 2.0 UVB full spectrum terrarium lamp with no heat. I also have a ZooMed 50W heat bulb but I'm not sure if this has any UVB at all? I got it from a friend who didn't have the box with it's information... So one bulb is UVB and the other is heat but I only have one lamp?!

The light isn't being shone through glass so even if he's underwater under the lamp he's getting the good effects of it. I know he needs to dry off too, so I take him out for a quick walk around the room whenever I can to make sure he dries off completely. His shell is in good shape, I'm not worried about any deterioration at the moment.
 

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ETTB1314

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Oct 14, 2014
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I think its just shyness? Because seems to me everything is set up correctly. But then again I'm not an expert haha someone else may have a different answer.

Just becareful of the fake plants and decos in there. As you mentioned they will try to eat it and you may have to remove it in the end. What I have are baby RESes, so I keep their tank bare. Just a basking platform, a filter and the light. And they love the large amount of space they have to swim and dive around.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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He's just shy :p It's natural for a small baby turtle too be scared of the big scary predators who might try and scoop them up.
When I first got my midland a few years ago, he was scared of me, and so I left him alone. After a few weeks of feeding, and me not eating him, he was okay. I would catch him basking, and he didn't jump off.
Just wait for him to settle in and get used to his surroundings and you! :D
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Also, I have fake plants, and my turtles couldn't care less! Actually, the reason I need fake plants is because they are such little killers when it comes to live... maybe try giving him some greens just to see if wants some fiber :)
 

TerryTerrapin

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Dec 3, 2014
Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
Ireland
I've had him for 3-4 months now so he's used to being handled, I do catch him basking more these days but doesn't ever seem like long enough to dry off. It would be fair to say he's in a room that's typically cold, and add to that I'm Irish so our climate isn't exactly balmy ^_^

I fed him Romaine once and he LOVED it, would any lettuce be alright? I feed him ReptoMin complete pellets, he's on 3-4 a day. I do catch him nibbling on the fake 'plants' coming off the rock but he's never bitten off a chunk of those or anything, whereas the fake grass frayed very easily and he'd really go for the bits floating in the water. I wouldn't be surprised if he did manage to eat a bit before I took it all away!
 
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