Our red eared slider is approximately 2-3 inches in diameter (about the size of a silver dollar). We believe it is a female because her "red ear" is very faint and her front claws are short. Her tank is mostly water (3/4 water, 1/4 land) and she prefers swimming much more than basking usually. Tonight she has begun to burrow frantically in the rocks on the bottom of her tank (the bottom is covered with small aquarium rocks with some medium and large-sized river rocks for her to bask on and swim around). It seems as if she is trying to wedge herself in between the rocks to hide herself. The water temperature is the same as always and she hasn't been acting any different lately. We're not sure of her age (and because she's so tiny we're not sure if she's capable of laying eggs yet) and we don't think she has any reason to hibernate (she's still eating well and is active). Any advice would be much appreciated!
2006-12-02 15:56:10 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Digging in the rocks is often just looking for food. If it found something there before, it will look harder the next time.
Hibernation is also possible if the temps have dropped or the light cycle has shortened- you say the temp is OK, so is the lighting changed? Window lighting would be for sure.
It DOES sound like a female, about 2 years old. She should have a water pool of about 30 gallons heated to about 75-80. The basking site should be heated to about 90. A hot or cold basking site might interfere with basking.
Turtles also sometimes just go into frenzys of activity- trying to escape, crawl through a corner, etc. Sometimes this is related to tank size and temps, sometimes it just seems to happen.
2006-12-02 17:05:12 · answer #1 · answered by Madkins007 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she is digging and sleeping in the burrows then maybe she's going to hibernation. Often if the days are shorter and the temperature is high as usual they get the instinct to hibernate. But if she's not sleeping in the burrows then maybe she's looking for food or doing that for fun. My RES always digs to have some fun.
2006-12-03 04:38:35 · answer #2 · answered by Varatena 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to have both a male and female red eared slider. They both would do this all the time so i'm assuming it's normal. I also noticed that they would try and fight or mate with their reflections on the tank and they would burrow after that too.
I wouldn't worry too much.
2006-12-03 00:05:32 · answer #3 · answered by ULTRAVIOLET OCEAN 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She may be trying to hibernate.
2006-12-03 00:03:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't realy worry about it, but do keep a eye on it you never now
2006-12-03 00:07:06 · answer #5 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋