turtle sleeping underwater

tortoise_man2

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
48
Why do turtles sleep underwater?
I just caught my baby eastern painted turtle sleeping on his rock with his neck stretched out just far enough to get his head under the water.



David S.
 

Moozillion

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
10,901
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana, USA
Wow- I have no idea. It sounds like it could dangerous. I hope someone more knowledgable comes along with some suggestions!
 

WillTort2

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
1,247
Any time I walk into the turtle room at night my painted is sitting on the bottom. I'm assuming they go into a relaxed mode where they use very little oxygen and just rest until they need air or they see light. Although it may be that they can process a small amount of oxygen from the water.

I'll look forward to hearing from some of the water turtle experts.
 

mike taylor

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
13,437
My sliders sleep under water . Thats the norm for water turtles .
 

Turtlepete

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
950
Location (City and/or State)
South Florida
Most turtles are able to extract small amounts of oxygen from the water, through their skin, cloaca, or villi in their mouth. The simple answer is they can "breathe" underwater, to varying degrees of success (musks and softies are experts at this.) When sleeping, they're bodily functions are slowed down enough that they use even less oxygen. They can stay underwater for several hours, easily. Water turtles will typically "sleep" on a piece of driftwood, or something similar, near the surface, where they can stretch their necks out to breathe.
 

Yellow Turtle01

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
7,691
Location (City and/or State)
OH, USA
My painted turtles do that too! I've never worried, because it looks rather comfortable, and I feel like they wouldn't if they could suffocate. My midland always blows little bubbles from his nose :<3:
hehehe
 

New Posts

Top