My turtle, when basking, often hides his arms and legs inside his shell.
However, I read that they need to intake the UV light through their skin and not their shell, so is this a problem if he tends to often hide his skin whilst basking?

can anyone give me some advice or insight as to why he does this and if its a problem

thanks

well, artificial uv bulbs are pretty much lame in comparison to real southern lattitude sun. he's just being comfortable. i used to watch turtles bask and streach out their leggs to bask but, especially if he's getting D3/Ca supplements, he's okay as far as his uv needs are concerned. they do like to haul out and get things dry for a bit but he may just be doing alright and you just may be fretting about really nothing. i don't know the set up or temps and all but if he's doing well, then maybe let a sleeping dog lie...i'm not a turtle man though..

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It would be useful to know what UV lamp you're using and the temp of the basking spot?

Mine all do this from time to time though so it's not neccessarily something to worry about.

I don't have a bulb in with mine at all! I never thought it was that important here, and just made sure to let him out for a while, once a week.

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Are you serious, you don't have any kind of lamp? Do you know what the lamps are for?

Without a heat lamp your turt will not be able to raise it's metabolic rate to a point where it's body can function properly, like all reptiles it needs an external heat source.

Without a UVB lamp it cannot synthesise vitamin D3, which it needs to process the calcium in it's diet to make strong bones and shell.

If you continue to keep it without either one of these you'll end up with an extremely sick turtle, maybe a dead one.

When you say you let yours out once a week what exactly do you mean? Out in the sun? Or roaming around the house, or what? A turt removed from it's home is usually a terrified turt, and the stress it feels will do nothing for it's state of health which is probably pretty poor already due to the lack of lighting!

I have got a malaysian box turtle that was not given any access to any light or heat in a totally aquatic set up, its alive, But its a mess. Its shell was so rotten once it was given a basking site its shell dried out and fell away in great chunks it had rotted through and killed the bone tissue completely. If i get time today i will post some pics.

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thats fine mate, don't worry bout it. mine does this often, though at times she'll stick her legs out, i wouldn't think it was anything t get to consered over as habu says. fancy posting some pics of your turt? would love to see. btw what type of turtle is it?

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It never ceases to amaze me how badly people are capable of keeping these animals, I mean it's not exactly rocket science is it? Simply look at the conditions they have in the wild and replicate those as closely as possible, because that's how they've evolved to live.

Do they live in a tiny puddle? No, so give them a decent size tank with plenty of water.

Do they live in a soup of their own faeces riddled with bacteria? No, so provide an adequate filter to keep the water clean.

Do they live in darkness and cold? No, so give them a heat and light source as close to natural sunlight as possible.

Then all you need to do is give them a decent balanced diet and you have a healthy happy turt, instead of a miserable sick animal destined to die a premature death.

my 2 turtles have 5% uv & basking spot in there set up
linda

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"Simply look at the conditions they have in the wild and replicate those as closely as possible, because that's how they've evolved to live."

that's how i've done things all my life.

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