eli5 Why do painted and other smaller turtles bask in the sun but I rarely see snapping turtles with their backs out of the water. I really only see them in spring basking

Question

eli5 Why do painted and other smaller turtles bask in the sun but I rarely see snapping turtles with their backs out of the water. I really only see them in spring basking

In: 32

Answer 1

They don’t bask in direct sunlight typically. They just move to shallow water just under the surface. I’m don’t remember the reason but I did look this up once.

Edit: they get the necessary vitamins from their diet and the surface water heat is enough otherwise.