Hi

Just wondered if I could ask your advice? My partner and I have just added to our little family two little yellow belly slider turtles. This is our first turtle keeping experience and we really don't want to get it wrong. The male is about 5" and the female around 4". They both seem to being doing really well so far. They seem to enjoy turtle feed (the complete stuff) as well as lettuce, blood worms every other day and aquatic plants. We have the water at around 78 and as well as their UVB lamp they have a basking lamp which warms the area to about 92 with light on. The trouble is neither of them seem to want/be able to get on the island to bask. One of them was up on some cork we had in the tank before we got the island but since hasn't even attempted basking. Ive read that its really important for them to do so to prevent them from getting fungal infections and so i'm starting to worry. We have only had them 6 days, could it just be that they aren't used to their new environment or do you think we need to do something to encourage them? Ive read on websites that if they don't bask you should remove them from the water and place them in a dry warm (80's) place for about 30 minutes a day but i'd like some more inside advice. Both of the turtles have white stringy fine materials floating out from their armpit areas and have done since we got them.

Hey, was browsing and seen this so decided to register and post to help you with your problem from my terrapin experience.

The white stuff from their armpit areas is simply skin, it's then shedding and will happen every now and then, it's really nothing to worry about at all.

As for not basking, like you said you had them for 6 days, so they would still be settling in. Though to encourage them to bask you could place them on the basking area after handling them. Make sure their is plenty of space for them to climb to the basking area, a small ramp or a piece of bogwood to help. Also you could put some lettuce on the dry area so they will come out and drag it under the water.

One problem could be though that you got them at a decent size so a potential barrier could be that they never had a basking area or one with good access in their old setup? Meaning they won't be used to going up and maybe not confident.

Personally mine loves the basking area, always up there, but every now and then he stays in the water for a few days on end. The way I look at it is, that if it want's to go up it will go up, if it doesn't want to go up then it won't. It's not a animal one can really train.