Kinda Worried about my YBS

[nickthompson]

Hey,

I've had my turtles for about 6 months. One is about 9 months old and the other about 6 months. I'm a bit worried about them as they rarely bask for long periods of time if I'm in the room (maybe a hour max). The oldest one will usually stay basking when I'm in until i get too close for his liking. The smaller one seems so scared and just darts and hides in a plastic tree/bush i have in the tank.

Also recently in the evening they rarely bask, they both just sit in the tree and hide.

They're both eating fine, i feed them either mealworms, dried shrimp or pellets i regularly put watercress and berries in the tank but they don't seem to want them.

Any ideas on what the problem is? or is this normal and I'm just being paranoid? lol

[Graham]

What basking lights do you have in place, and what are your basking spot and water temps?

Assuming these are correct there are a few things you can try, such as putting backing material on the back and both ends of the tank so it's only open to the front, that should help them to feel more secure.

Position the tank in a low traffic area, away from doors and windows from where people and shadows can suddenly appear.

It's not unusual for turts to be a bit skittish when you first get them, or when they go into a new tank, but they should have settled down by now.

[nickthompson]

Hey man thanks for replying.

I have a Exxo Terra Solar Glo 100w, and they have a rock structure with a 3 x 4 inch top which is out of the water and also there is a piece of corkbark there.

I'm not too sure on the basking temp as my digital thermometer broke, new ones in the post though, i think it was around 33 Celsius, the water temperature is 23 Celsius.

I've attached a pic of the setup, its a bit dark as the turts are now sleeping in the plant to the right. There isn't anything round the tank but i will definitely sort that tomorrow.

Thanks

[nickthompson]

ha ha i just noticed one of my turtles at the bottom next to the plant!

[Graham]

I'd get a lot more water in there and make a bigger basking area.

[nickthompson]

atm theres 7.5" of water, how much would you recommend?

Also i've just thought of another query, is it usual for about 1.5 litres of water to evaporate a day? atm the light is on for 11 hours a day.

Thanks

[Graham]

how much would you recommend?

As deep as you can make it without them climbing out, YBS are great swimmers and can cope with any depth of water you can provide, and greater water volume will help your filter to work more efficiently.

1.5 litres a day does sound like quite a high loss rate, but a bigger basking shelf would probably help as the lamp wouldn't be heating the water surface quite so much.

[nickthompson]

ok cool will do, any ideas on good size dock to get? i've been looking at these two:

Lucky Reptile Turtle Island Medium - Evolution Reptiles

Zoo Med Turtle Dock - 3 sizes

or could i use some more corkbark? maybe another 1 or 2 pieces?

My tanks is 80cm x 40cm x 30cm.


Thanks

[scots_pine]

I'd personally use cork bark, we have a large piece wedged in our tank. It eliminates using those docks with suckers, which my turtles liked to attempt to pull off by sticking their heads between the plastic bars.

As Graham said, a large basking area would allow your heat lamp to focus on less water and cause less evaporation.

[nickthompson]

Ok kl kl, will do, when I fill the tank should I move the filter up? Atm the reason there is only 7.5" of water is because that's the length of the filter, also how much bark should cover the surface? Double the size of both tufts? Thanks