michaelg wrote:Like others have said, RES are aquatic turtles, not land turtles. They only go on land to bask and lay eggs.
George never basks, so I imagine it's OK to let her crawl around on this bed of rocks in direct sunlight while I clean her tank, right? She seems OK with it, is crawling around and exploring. It will only be a few minutes... But it does concern me that she is always submerged. Her basking area/lighting haven't been set up yet
...update: yeah, that didn't work out so well. I approached where she was "basking" on the dry rocks, she clamored toward me and made a raspy gasping sound. Usually she clamors away when I approach, and I've never heard her make an audible sound with her mouth ever in the nearly 3 months we've been together. I'm still a bit startled. She made the sound again and is up on her hind legs, so I immediately returned her to water.
I guess the key is to have the option to bask, not just suddenly be out of your native environment. Sorry, George.
She seems more calm now.