Our new girl Tina Turtle

[tina_turtle]

Hi! New to the turtle community. We adopted Tina “Pickle” Turtle (african sideneck) just over a week ago. She is in a 40 gallon tank, humidity, pH levels, and temperatures are perfect. I’m posting because she seems inactive and it has me concerned. When her lights are on, she hides in her tunnel, almost all day. The tunnel is located near the heater. She won’t eat mealworms when fed, so I have been relying on pellets (which she loves!). I have yet to see her bask… a few times i’ve put her on the platform, and she promptly dives back off and swims to her hidey hole.

Could she still be nervous about the new environment? We got her the day she arrived at the pet store, so she was only in their environment for a couple hours, at most.

First pic is how she sleeps (sideways and behind her log) and the second is from the day we brought her home.

Any advice or reassurance would be greatly appreciated. I want her to thrive and love her space! TYIA.

 

[emeraldking]

Well, I'd like to say: Give it some time... Turtles in general can take their time to get adjusted to a new environment. And it's not particularly that she's been housed at the store for just a quick moment but more where she came from first. But turtles like these like to expose their selves and hide. So basically, nothing to be worried about. So again, just give it some time.

 

[Geoffrey]

I know nothing about keeping turtles, but I just wanted to say that Tina sure is a cutie. Good luck with her!

 

[GaryE]

My last remaining red eared slider (from 3 hatched in 1984) is still going strong, but when I moved her last week so she could get more sun to bask in, she hid for 2 days. Many turtles take time to evaluate their surroundings and settle in.

 

[Fishmanic]

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