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Hi guys. I was wondering could anyone tell me the basics of Brumation, I enquired in the petshop and everything he said is not happening with my little dudes. Heres some info on what happened.

I fed them last 2 weeks ago and turned down the heater every other day till i got to 24 degrees as told by petshop. I cleaned the tank and filter completely and blackened it out for them. Apparently they should have slowed down by now? But they havent they are killing each other. Ive seperated them into two seperate tanks and now they seem depressed and not their usual lively selves. So ive reunited them and they are swimmin mad and seem themselves again. In regards to Brumation Do they have to do this? One is 3 years and the other is 2 years. Im afraid they will be affected if they dont and id really appreciate some advice please!!

Brumation is not necessary and not normally recommended for indoor RES (around here anyway).

As long as you can provide an indoor, continually heated tank, brumation isn't needed. It has been suggested that it may lead to a longer, more natural life, though complications that arise from brumation are generally death. My RES hasn't gone through it and she is fine. In fact, the only time of the year that I need my water heater is the winter time.

24 degrees, as in Celcius? That's 75 degrees F, which is way hotter than their tank should ever be! You would need it to drop around 4 degrees Celcius for them to completely slow down and brumate. Considering that you have two adult turtles, your normal water temps should be 20-22 degrees Celcius. Your basking temp should be somewhere around 27 degrees Celcius.

Anything over 22 degrees Celcius will cause the turtle's metabolism to increase, to the point that they are essentially starving if you aren't feeding them. This causes fighting over food supplies, territory, etc.

It encourages breeding in certain species, but for RES it's not necessary. Some have said that turtles that brumate have longer life spans.

The temp you're keeping them at is too warm for brumation.

Well i'm lucky i went with my gut and stopped. Will not be getting any advice from the petshop. I got a new heater and that yoke you stick to the tank to tell the temp and its at 22. would i have to turn it up any as the weather is freezing. I cant believe i havent fed them in 2 weeks for nothing. I also have a mississipi mud turtle but theres not much advice in books would i be able to post anything about him on here or will i have to find another site?

sorry MAP turtle

As long as you have an aquatic turtle that is like a RES (which maps are), you are more than welcome to post on here. 95% of the care is identical, and if you are asking about a medical problem, just make sure you mention in your post that you are talking about the map. Even if you have a box turtle/tortoise, you are welcome to post on here in that thread, and if we can't help you, we'll send you elsewhere!

Never, ever listen to a pet store employee, as you've found out. You are always best suited to ask us or another turtle forum and then ask the employee where to find said item in the store. Pet store employees either sound like they know what they are doing but don't or are looking out for the monetary interest of the store. You do occasionally find useful ones, but they are rare gems!

As for your water heater, just keep an eye on what the temp is registering and adjust as needed. I've found that as the room temps get cooler, you have to turn the heater up a little, and then when spring comes, you start to turn it back down. Remember that each time you adjust the dial, you should keep an eye on the temps for a few hours to make sure it doesn't get too warm or too cold. You may also want to invest in a second thermometer (such as an inexpensive IR thermometer) for a "second opinion". I have a sticky one on my tank for quick daily checking, and the IR thermometer works well because I can not only check the water surface temps, but I can also check the basking surface temps.

This might sound stupid but whats an IR thermometer?

Yes i wont be listening to them anymore im even going to go in and inform him that they do not need to God knows how many people he has told.

Thanks alot for the advice, im really glad i went with my gut instinct stopped and came here for advice.

the advice on this page is dead useful trust me, if i didnt accidently stumble upon this sight eugene and buster would have been a whole other story, and dumb tourist question for you?

is Ireland really green? with valleys and such?

ha ha. yes it really is green!!!

You could try www.turtleforum.com for info on your map turtle.

Shellie I read your last reply a few times over. But my understanding, and I am also new to the turtles, is that they do NEED to bask. I don't know if maybe I read your post wrong but to me it looks like you said they don't need to bask.

my last reply was answering moose about ireland being green where did i mention basking till i fix it.

i found it it was a few posts up yes you read write but i wrote wrong. dramas over.

IR thermometer, since it got missed up there, is an infrared thermometer. It is different in that it uses light, rather than a probe, to determine the temperature. Generally the higher in price, the more focused the beam, so it's more accurate. But I got one on Amazon.com that is fairly cheap and I think works well. Just read the instructions.

http://www.amazon.com/Actron-CP7875-Poc ... 35_rsrsrs0