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Should baby sliders be sleeping long hours2007-11-24 2:02:41

I know the baby turtle should be kept from trying to hibernate, but I'm just very concerned. Thanks in advance for your reply.

Andy in NJ

Answers:

Baby turtles eat, bask, and sleep so a lot of sleep is reasonably normal.

HOWEVER if it is sleeping a lot, then there is usually a basic care issue to consider. Some common issues include:

- Tank is too small. A baby turtle should have a 10 gallon pool to swim in (a 20 gallon tank half-filled). As it grows, the ratio should be 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle.

- Tank is too cold. Water should be heated to about 75-80, with basking sites heated to about 90.

- Lighting is off. As the days get shorter, turtles want to hibernate. We can overcome this with sun-like lighting set to summery day lengths. Lighting also helps with heating and the right lights can help provide UV light, which turtles need.

- Dirty water. Not a big issue with lethargic turtles, except that it allows the turtles to become ill. Big tanks and good filters help.

- Mediocre diet. Cheap turtle food is not healthy or nutritious. A good diet combines high-quality pellets with live (or frozen/thawed) 'fish foods' like small fish, worms, bugs, etc. Babies especially like bloodworms.

Try the following sites for more info:

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iono

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I guess so.They're babies after all. They're growing.