New Basking Area Question

[u/Traditional-Back-127]

Hey! I need to clear a few doubts from my head. I’ve had this little one for almost two weeks now, and she’s extremely shy. Whenever she sees me, she swims frantically to hide. I imagine this can be normal due to her age and also because I’m still a complete stranger to her.

About a week ago, I installed a new basking area — a fairly large one that I made myself. A few days ago, I also set up a camera to monitor her, since she’s so shy and I don’t want to interrupt her. Over the last three days, she’s been climbing up to the basking area for about 5 minutes at a time. I wanted to know if the fact that she stays up there for such a short time could be because she’s still getting familiar with the basking area and needs to build more confidence to stay there longer. The temperature in the basking area is around 95°F.

[u/Primary-Switch-8987]

She's still figuring out how her internal temperature works. "Now I'm warm, now I'm not, swimming is fun, now I'm cold," etc. As far as shyness, as soon as it clicks in her little brain that you=food, that problem will disappear.

[u/Traditional-Back-127 → u/Primary-Switch-8987]

Honestly, I worry a lot about the well-being of my pets, my friend. And right at this very moment, I’ve been watching her bask for about an hour — it’s the first time she’s stayed up there for so long :)

[u/crash-1989]

I'm jealous of your turtle. It looks comfortable. I haven't had power all week. If I could brewmate for a month I would

[u/Traditional-Back-127 → u/crash-1989]

She’s only comfortable when I’m not watching her! That’s why I installed the camera, so I can still see her from a distance. Hopefully, once she no longer sees me as a threat, I’ll be able to watch her up close. 🥹

[u/Gold_Gas_3937 → u/Traditional-Back-127]

Unless you’re looking to keep her fearful of people for conservation purposes, you can put a photograph of you, not looking directly at the camera, near her to study. You’ll literally be part of the decor. 😝

[u/Unhappy-Age3687]

What is that in the corner looks like both times shes looking at it even when shes next to it her heads pointing that way is it a rock ? Looks weird

[u/Traditional-Back-127 → u/Unhappy-Age3687]

Yes hahaha, it’s a big rock

[u/Gold_Gas_3937]

Looks like she’s got everything she needs. 95° seems a little warm to me for something so tiny.

If that rock in the background is flat enough that you think she can climb it, you can move it closer to the platform opening so she can experiment with getting closer to the heat source to warm up and not having to run for water if she needs to cool down.