Red ear sliders

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I would like to know if red ear sliders sleep in water or out of water?

ANSWER: Hi Marc,

Typically they sleep in the water at night, usually at the bottom or sometimes partially hidden by plants.  While basking during the day, they might snooze a little, but it's not usually as deep a sleep as at night.  Hope this answered your question!

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QUESTION: Hi again,
I've bought a red ear slider about a week. And he won't bask. I have three different basking areas. One is rock with a filter in it, the second is a floating rock, and third is a floating log for turtles. For heat and light there's a bulb for UVA and UVB and the other is a heat bulb of 50 watts. The turtle is about 2 inches. I've thought about isolating him to bask until he gets used to doing it. I've set him down in the basking area and he goes back into the water.
Thank you for the help,
Marc

Answer
Hi Marc,

You need to check your temperatures in the water and under the basking spot(s).  My guess is that the water is too warm or the basking area(s) are too cool--most likely the issue is with the basking spots because a 50 watt bulb is pretty small, depending on the size of your tank.  The water temperature should be about 75-78 degrees, and basking area should be 10-15 degrees warmer.  Basking behavior is instinctive, but if there isn't enough temperature difference between the water and land, the turtle won't bask.  Hope this helped.  Here's a link to a good site for more information on RES care:  www.redearslider.com.