Urgent Care :: always sleeping

[GMAK]

my res always seem to be sleeping day and night. he eats well, but just sleeps about 90% of the day. whats wrong with him?

[ellman605]

check the tempurature, if it's to cold, he might be planning to hibernate, increase the tempurature, see if that works, use either a submersable heater, or something, he is probably plannign to hibernate.

[GMAK]

the water temp is about 77 degrees. should i lower the heat lamp. its approx. 1 1/2 feet from their basking area. they hibernate? for how long, and do i have to make any changes to compensate for this?

[ellman605]

just keep it warm...is he showing any other signs? not eating, any open mouth breathing? if nothing bad is happening, he might just be tired, if you want to see if it's to cold, i just stick my arm down the side of the tank. if its to cold for me, its to cold for them.

[cam722]

if you want to see if it's to cold, i just stick my arm down the side of the tank. if its to cold for me, its to cold for them.

That's not true, what is cold to a human isn't necessarilly cold to a turtle. Our body temp is 98.6 and anything lower than that "seems" cold to us. So if the water is 75 it's going to feel cold to us. Best way is to get a thermometer and check the temps to be positive what the temps are.

Where is your turtle sleeping? Is it sleeping while basking? That's rather normal.. Mine seem to be sleeping more now than they did in the summer. I just think it's the change of seasons. Nothing has changed in their environment at all.. the temps are all the same etc. Just shorter days.

[GMAK]

hes doing a slight amount of open mouth breathing...but he eats and everything just sleeps all day and night while basking

[steve]

Carol is right, thermometers are absolutely necessary and you should have at least 2 - one for the basking area another for the water. Sleeping during basking is normal for some turtles, but if he comes lethargic, you should consider taking him to a vet.

[marisa]

You said the water temp is 77F. What wattage are you using for the basking lamp and what is the temp of the basking area? (To check the temp, put an object the height of your turtle where he usually basks under the light, and put a thermometer on top of it for about 20 minutes. Then check it.) For a healthy turt, the basking area should be 88-90F.

Unless you're using a really high wattage or you're using a 160 watt UVA/UVB combination mercury vapor bulb, a light that's 1.5 feet away from the basking area sounds like it might be too far away to produce meaningful heat. What kind of bulb are you using, and again, what is the wattage? If it's a regular lightbulb/daylight bulb/special basking bulb/etc., does your turtle also have a UVB light to bask under (regular UVB lights are flourescent and don't produce enough heat by themselves)?

[GMAK]

45 watter. might not be producing enough heat for the little guy

[cam722]

That's a pretty low wattage bulb to be that far away from the basking area. Try putting it like 8-10 inches away. Far enough so water doesn't splash on it. Do you have a thermometer to check the basking area temp??

[ellman605]

i have a 100 watt about....7 inches away from the baskign thing, and they seem to love it, and luckily, they like it warm, cause they arent half int he water, they are right in the heat, i think they love it.

[cam722]

elliott, don't you have a small tank? a 100 watt bulb is pretty strong and gives off a lot of heat. I use one for my 75 gallon tank and it's like 10" away from my basking area and keeps it around 88-90 degrees. Have you checked the basking temp? I'd hate for your turtles to get their shells burnt.

[GMAK]

thanks for all the help guys. ill be buying a more powerful basking light for the ninja turtles. should i be getting a uva or uvb light? i remeber i couldnt find one for the life of me so i just went with the other...

[steve]

You need both unless you buy one those special combo lights (they are not appropriate for small tanks). A normal household lightbulb can be used in addition to a UVB light.

[marisa]

Put your money into a UVB light and use a regular household bulb for the heat. Have them both over the basking area next to each other. Check the temp as suggest4d above to make sure the temp is right.