I have 2 Central American wood Turtles, now that they have there new enclosure with a bigger water area they never get out of the water except to eat which is usually only a few minutes. My questions are: Is that normal for them to stay in the water for hours on end? (when I say hours I mean 12-20+ hours a day) Is it healthly for them to stay in the water like that? Should I be worried about this?
Everything I've found on C.A. Wood Turtles say they are amphibious in nature. Many other species of wood turtles live mostly in water. They live in and around ponds, lakes, bogs, and swamps. This being said, and looking at your pics again...you may want to make your 'water hole' bigger. They can eat in the water. So you can offer them worms and things in there as well. You definitely want their enclosure to be about half land and half water. I'll let you know if I find out anything else.
This website says they are more land-dwelling than aquatic, but they do go into the water often. http://centralpets.com/pages/critterpages/...s/TUR2639.shtml Great Site! Doesn't really say that they can 'over-soak', but says that they will do so often. It also mentions that they love moist soil and humidity. If you look at their natural habitats, these are places with high humidity, lots of rain most of the year, and pretty warm temps. http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/rpulcherrimacare.htm So the C. A. Wood doesn't look as amphibious as the North American species, but they do like moisture, misting, and soaking. Hope this helps!
Maybe try to position the Heat lamp so some is touching the water so that area of the water is warm, thus they would want to bask.
