Land and aquatic turtles make popular pet reptiles, yet their behaviors can often remain mysterious. Sleep is among these behaviors that is particularly perplexing since it can be hard to tell when a turtle may be awake if they’re not moving around or feeding themselves. Sleep patterns vary among species but regardless of your caring for a particular kind, all turtles need rest at some point – knowing their normal sleeping pattern will allow you to recognize if anything seems amiss when something changes suddenly in terms of rest patterns.
Turtle Sleep Although both land and aquatic turtles sleep, it can be hard to tell when they’re resting. Some research on turtle sleep has been done but results vary by species and results – there is much we don’t yet understand about turtle rest. What we do know, though, is that turtles do sleep despite what their wake/sleep states may look like to other animals and people.1
Pet turtles often sleep throughout the day in short bursts or can take several long naps at once. Aquatic turtles may spend many hours dozing off on dry docks or underwater for short naps when needed – while land turtles don’t swim, giving them plenty of opportunities to rest anytime, anywhere.
Environmental Influences on Turtle Sleep
Many environmental factors can alter a turtle’s sleeping patterns. If its environment is less than ideal, its sleeping pattern could become altered and potentially result in illness for its species. Making sure these following elements meet their specific requirements can promote regular sleep cycles for your turtle species.
Lighting Land and aquatic turtles are more likely to experience regular sleep cycles if they have access to regular white light cycles. It’s important to note that light bulbs emitting red or purple wavelengths which reptiles cannot see are ineffective for them. Most turtle species such as painted turtles, red-eared sliders, cooters, common box turtles and map turtles are diurnal meaning they spend their waking hours basking in sunlight; without consistent lighting patterns your turtle’s sleep cycle could become irregular.
Shelters and Platforms
Though each turtle may have different sleep preferences, you should always provide land turtles with shelter and aquatic turtles with platforms. Land turtles need somewhere to retreat while aquatic ones require somewhere they can dry off after swimming in water. Hides and docks often become their go-to sleeping spots. Plastic containers with openings cut out, half logs, a pile of rocks forming caves, store bought shelters designed for reptiles – these all make great places for land turtles to rest their heads at night. Homemade floating docks made with PVC tubing or rock piles as well as store bought floating turtle platforms are great ways to provide aquatic turtles a comfortable place to rest their shells and relax. Make sure your shelter or platform can easily fit its size requirements; no matter if they reside on land or water.
Temperature Your turtle’s environment temperature could also have an enormous effect on their sleep pattern. Since turtles are ectothermic or cold-blooded, they depend on ambient temperatures to regulate their body temperatures; too cold a temperature could induce greater amounts of sleepiness for longer. Different species have various ideal temperatures so be sure that your environment doesn’t become too cool too soon!
Sleep Vs Brumation
Brumation is a type of hibernation in reptiles. Turtles kept in controlled, warm environments may still experience periods of brumation but its chances are reduced by consistency of environment. Brumation works similarly to sleeping; body temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate all decrease during this phase, meaning turtles in brumation could stay dormant for extended periods before emerging again to the light of day.