Most new turtle owners are faced with this problem in the beginning. For some reason, your red-eared slider will not bask. I’ve also had this problem with some of my first turtles, and I know how frustrating it can be. So I decided to write this short guide to help other people that are faced with the same problem.
Your Red-Eared Slider won’t bask if it’s stressed or scared, if she is pregnant, if the temperature in the basking area is too high or too low, or if the basking area is inaccessible.
Now let’s look at every possible problem and see what the solution is.
Basking Area Temperature
Let’s start by having a look at the basking area. Before we take a look at all other possible reasons why your red-eared slider is not basking, we have to make sure that the basking area is in order.
For a red-eared slider, the basking temperature should be between 85 and 95°F (22 to 35°C).
In order to get the correct temperature in the basking area, you will need to use a heat bulb.
Heat bulbs are similar to normal light bulbs that we use around the house, the only difference is that those bulbs create a lot more heat than a regular light bulb.
Bulbs come with different wattages, from 50 watts to 75, to 100 watts, and up to 150 watts. And each wattage is good in certain situations. I have an in-depth guide on how to choose the right heat bulb for your basking area, that you can find right here: Turtle Basking Light Wattage (Illustrated Beginners Guide). Here is an extract from that article that will cover the basics:
In short, there is no best wattage, a 50-watt bulb can be as efficient as a 150-watt bulb. It all comes down to the way your basking area is set up, more precisely, it comes down to how far away your bulb is from your turtle.
Here is a chart that I made showing what temperature you should expect to achieve using different powered light bulbs at certain distances.
| Distance(50 W) | Temperature(50 W) | Distance(50 W) | Temperature(50 W) | Distance(50 W) | Temperature(50 W) | Distance(50 W) | Temperature(50 W) |
| 4 inches | 104°F | 4 inches | 120°F | 4 inches | 131°F | 4 inches | 144°F |
| 8 inches | 81°F | 8 inches | 91°F | 8 inches | 113°F | 8 inches | 131°F |
| 12 inches | 73°F | 12 inches | 81°F | 12 inches | 90°F | 12 inches | 126°F |
To make this chart I used a laser thermometer and the average temperature of the room was 75°Farenheit (24°Celsius), so you might get slightly different results depending on the temperature of your room, but unless the difference is massive the temperature of the basking area should be similar.
As for the bulbs, I’ve been using these bulbs for a few years, but from my experience, all heat bulbs are very similar, so you can use whichever you like the most. But, make sure to avoid halogen bulbs, I will explain shortly why.
The Basking Area Is Not Accessible
This can happen a lot of times, especially if the basking area is handmade. If the baking area is not stable and doesn’t have enough grip, your turtle will avoid it.
The lack of grip can easily be solved. Just put something that has enough grip on the ramp that the turtle uses to get up on the basking area. You can use a small patch of artificial grass, or glue a few plastic bars that will help with the grip. There are a lot of things that you can use, just make sure that they will stay in place, and that your turtle won’t try to eat them.
If the basking area is not stable, you will have to either fix it or get a new one. Since there are hundreds of commercial modes, and even more homemade basking areas, there is no universal solution to make it more stable, so I can’t tell you exactly what to do to fix it, you can either use some screws to fix it to the wall, or some strong glue to fix it to the side of the tank, there are a lot of things that you can do. But if you think that you should get a new basking area, then go check out the Recommended Gear Page, there you will find my recommendations for the best turtle care products, including basking areas.
Stressed
Turtles get stressed very easily. They can get stressed by excessive noises, by other pets, improper handling, and many other things.
If your red-eared slider gets stressed out, they will stop basking, eating, and everything else until they calm down. When most turtles are stressed they are either trying to get out of the tank or stop doing anything. If this is your problem, the solution is simple.
Here are a few things that can stress a turtle:
- Loudspeakers that are placed right next to the tank
- A cat or a dog that is always trying to get into the tank
- Improper handling
- Too frequent interactions
- etc.
If something is able to stress out most people, then it can also easily stress out a turtle.
To solve this problem you simply have to remove the stress source. Usually, this can be solved by moving the tank to another room that is less frequented by other people. But how to solve this problem really depends on the thing that is stressing your turtle. But basically, you just have to remove that stress factor, and soon your red-eared slider will soon start baking again.
Scared
This is the case for most turtles that just moved into a new home.
If you just got your red-eared slider it’s very normal for them to need some time to adjust to their new environment.
Moving to a new home can be very stressful for a turtle. They will go from a small cramped tank, that they share with multiple turtles, to a new spacious tank where they can live alone. And if they were sent through the mail, they will be even more scared.
If this is the case for your red-eared slider, you just have to leave your turtle calm down a little. After about a week your turtle will get used to the new environment and will start basking. There is nothing you can do in this case, just make sure that you don’t scare your turtle any further. Soon enough your turtle will start basking regularly.
Pregnancy
A pregnant turtle will act very strangely, she will stop eating, she will stop basking, she will try to dig everywhere, and she will swim frantically. Pregnant turtles don’t do this not because they don’t like the tank, they do this because they want to find a good place where they can lay the eggs. And until they find one they will stop doing what they normally do.
Eed-eared sliders usually lay their eggs in piles of leaves or holes that they dig, but never in water. So the tank is definitely not a suitable environment for this.
The first thing you have to do if you want to know if your turtle is really pregnant is to find out if it’s a male or a female, so you should read this article that is going to tell you if that’s the case: How to Tell If Your Turtle Is Male or Female (with Pictures).
And if your red-eared slider is a female, and you want to know if she is pregnant, then you should read this article where you will find all the info you need: How to Tell if Your Turtle Is Pregnant.
If your red-eared slider is pregnant there is nothing that you can do to make her calm down. You will have to wait for her to lay the eggs.
One important thing about turtles is that they can get pregnant even if there is no male around. The difference is that the eggs won’t be fertilized so no baby will come out of them. So even if you only have a female turtle she can still lay eggs.
It’s Possible That Your Red-Eared Slider Is Basking When You Are Not Watching
It’s always possible that your turtle is basking when you are not around. And this is not just a strange coincidence.
This is also tied to the fact that turtles can be scared easily. For all turtles, the land is a lot more dangerous than the water. On land, there are a lot more predators, and they can’t move as fast as they can in water. So, basking can be a dangerous activity.
And since the turtle can’t differentiate between a controlled environment, like a house, and the wild, they think that some predator can come at any time after them, when they are basking. So it’s entirely possible that they are basking when nobody is around, and when you enter the room they will jump in the water.
This is not something that you can fix, if your turtle is scared easily, then that’s how it is. Maybe things will change as time goes by, but there is nothing in particular that you can do right now to change that, except for taking proper care of your turtle.
But this is something that you have to verify. You can do this by living a phone, or a camera in the room and filming the turtle for a day, to see if it basks or not. If your turtle basks then everything is alright. If it doesn’t then you should see if any of the previous causes apply to your turtle.
Final Thoughts
Basking is essential for the well-being of a red-eared slider, so make sure that you find out what the problem is and solve it as soon as possible.
If you are still having trouble getting your turtle to bask you can always leave me a comment in the comment section and I will reply to you as soon as possible
Common Questions
Should I leave the light on for my turtle at night? No turtles don’t need a source of light during the night. So there is no need for one. But if you want to see your turtles during the night, there are some special red or blue lights that won’t disturb the turtles and will allow you to see them clearly.
Should I turn my turtle’s heat lamp off at night? Yes, there is no need for a heat lamp during the night. Turtles don’t usually bask during the night.
Do all turtles bask? No, not all turtles need to bask. But most turtles that end up as pets need to bask, so you have to provide a proper basking area for them.
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