20 OCTOBER 2018

Pi on Platform

The Pi Cam caught some interesting moments where Pi tries to get settled on the platform so that she can bask.

In the first video below, Pi tries to bite her arm! Pi does not normally do this, so perhaps she thought there was something on her arm, or maybe her arm is itchy. Since Pi cannot bend her neck to the side deeply enough to reach her arm, she ends up spinning in half a circle in trying to do so. Red-eared slider turtles like Pi can retract their necks and heads into their shells, but cannot bend their necks to the side. These turtles are categorized in the suborder Cryptodira. There are some species of turtles that can bend their necks to the side, but not retract their necks into their shells; they are categorized in the suborder Pleurodira.

In the second video below, Pi orients herself under the heat lamp and splays her feet out wide. By fanning out her feet and therefore increasing the surface area, she can catch more heat from the lamp.