sick or sleeping

Question
she is absolutly normal, no swollen eyes odd behavior etc. though i have been noticing that these days bitsy is sleeping above water all the time. whenever i see her, she is on a rock above the water with her eyes closed. i am not sur how old she is but she is about half the size of a 13 year olds fist.
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Followup To

Question -
ummm i have a red eared slider named bitsy, and whenever i come to see her(i think she is a girl), her eyes are closed. is bitsy sick or sleeping, and if she is sick, what does she have and how can i cure it?

Answer -
I would need a lot more info to answer this question- age or size, are the eyes puffy or swollen, etc. so let me just refer you to a good website:

http://www.redearslider.com

Besides the health sections, also check out the basic care and diet sections to make sure thigns are going well for Bitsy.

Good luck!

Answer
On a rock with eyes closed is a basking behavior. They like to sleep in a warm, sunny place. If the basking site is nice and warm (90 degrees or so), she will be resting nicely.

One reason turtles bask and sleep is that their enclosure is too cool. Check the water temps- they should be around 75-80 in the warm area during the day, and can be 5-10 degrees cooler in the cool section or at night.

You also want to make sure the tank is big enough for her- at least 10 gallons of swimming space per inch of turtle- heated nicely, kept well filtered (and/or has frequent partial water changes), has proper lighting, etc. as outlined at sites like http://www.redearslider.com

Finally, you'll want to make sure the diet is solid so it has the energy it needs. For now, you can use high-quality turtle pellets (not the cheap stuff, it uses cheap nutrients). As you learn more, you can supplement it with things like worms, crickets, or small fish.

Turtles are not the easiest pets, but with a little work they can be quite fun!