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Basking is just them warming their reptile blood via sitting in a sunny spot.
Stacking can be done for a lot of different reasons. It's believed the one on top might be asserting dominance, just attempting to get closer to the sun, or that the one on bottom might allow this because bunching together keeps the group safe (like fish swimming in a school). Frankly I'm not sure stacking is completely understood, but it's a common, natural behavior
It is also possible they going at it earlier and just stayed like that after to be lazy. I have seen turtles procreate before and i must say they had great stamina. I by the time i left the area they were still canoodling.
I've been taking care of a few "rescue" red eared sliders for about 8 years now. They are all female and they stack. I think position is simply more about who got to the basking spot first than anything else. I've seen the more dominant one on both top and bottom. Ive also watched the more dominant one, on top, be thrown back into the water because the bottom turtle wants off her log and back to swimming. They certainly are interesting...
there's two things you learn taking care of aquatic turtles: they have way more personality than you'd think, and they shit more than every other animal on earth combined.
Captive and wild animals will show different behaviors. Less spot to bask from means stacking will happen more often. These guys have plenty of options and are still choosing to do it.
Though as a wildlife rehabber/educator I think sometimes it's as simple as "I want to be close to the sun, on your back is an inch closer."
True, but there could have been ten other turtles on that rock a second before that shot was taken. They tend to like to congregate.
I'm always amazed how collaborative they are. I just had to fabricate a better basking platform and one of the turtles m, who is very wide, couldn't figure it out. I'm convinced two others who were very quick to learn, were trying to teach her how to use the new, admittedly slippery ramp. I modified it slightly and now everyone has no problem at all. Two are currently stacking as I type this
The poor turtle on the bottom came up to warm up and get some bright yellow sun and this motherfucker not only crushing him but blocking all bright yellow sun.
Turtles also get together to flip one another over if one of their buddies are stuck upside down. It's like they automatically all go to hell! It's so fascinating and neat to me. I mean it makes sense that it would need to happen otherwise so many of them would die because they got stuck upside down but it's just fascinating to watch it.
They also need the ultraviolet light to make vitamin D3 which allows them to absorb calcium which they use for their bones. The shell is actually a modified ribcage, they aren't "inside" their shell like a hermit crab, the shell is part of them.
Source - I have had a Red-Eared Slider turtle, very similar the ones in the video (although I don't think those are RES specifically), going on 15 years now. Her name is Georgia.
Yeah, the term "cold blooded" is a misnomer in biology as their blood is not cold unless they haven't basked for a while.
The correct term is ectothermic - the blood rises in temperature when they bask. Their blood can actually be significantly higher in temperature than a human.
See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the earth. His thought is slow but always kind; he holds us all within his mind. On his back all vows are made; he sees the truth buy mayn’t aid. He loves the land and loves the sea, and even loves a child like me
Specifically, what is happening here is a dominance display. The top turtle is taking the sunlight away from the bottom, ensuring that he has more energy than the other turtle.
Also to kill off fungal pathogens, I can’t remember where I read it but reptiles will routinely warm themselves to higher temperatures than needed for metabolic activity. either desiccate their skin or raise their internal temps high enough to kill off fungi.
It may also be related to why reptiles have such amazing immune systems but that’s entirely conjecture on my part.
And Yertle the Turtle, the king of the trees,
The king of the air and the birds and the bees,
The king of a house and a cow and a mule...
Well, that was the end of the Turtle King's rule!
For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond,
Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! in the pond!
And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.
Well, they are not having sex, or his crotch would be at her butt, and he be pushin' and making lawn mower noises. Looks like he's just using his buddy as a perch to get more sun, the arsehole.
Just stretching out Sun bathing, they just climb close to the sun as they can . That one just has exceptional balance lol 😂 I’ve seen turtles stacked 4 high before
Holy shit! Is this audio that is both not insanely irritating AND appropriate to the video!?! Somebody give OP an award!
My favorite way to start my day was at an old apartment that overlooked a slew. There were river otters and turtles out every morning, so I would sit in mosquito netted balcony and watch the otters and turtles doing their things while I read the paper with coffee and a cigarette. Not advocating smoking, but fuck me those were the best mornings.
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