Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: I'm concerned about my Ziggy

[ZMLC]

Thanks so much for the support...I do have a concern about my female RES Ziggy...she's about 8-9 years old and I've had her for a year. (She needed a home so we gave her one) She has layed eggs before in the water...but when we realized the eggs were cracked. Now I believe she is expecting and she seems very tired, always sleeping, and she doesn't eat as much as she used to. Now she really is uneasy and agitated when I handle her during feeding time, something she has never done. I put her in a separate tank with moist dirt...and a heating/uv lamp on one side of the tank for about 6 hours (as recommended by a website) but she didn't lay any eggs. Is there anything I can do to make her feel comfortable? She is not too active and this worries me since I'm so used to her swimming and getting excited during feeding times and when we pet her. I would appreciate any help. Thanks so much ~ Dennise

[jenaero]

If she's ready to lay eggs, it's normal for her to be less active and also to eat less. Not much more you can do besides what you're already doing...she'll lay when she's ready.

[sonyj]

You said that you had noticed her laying eggs in the water before. This isn't good. Female RES need a special nesting area set up that they can get to if the are gravid. It's good that you've got that set up for her now. Even if she had laid some eggs in the water she still could have retained some and that will cause great injury to her. I'm sure you've already done lots of research on a nesting area but here's a link that you might find interesting or useful:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm

Good luck and let us know how she is. There have been posts on this in the past so try using the search button at the top and search for "nesting" or something similar if you'd like to read past posts on this subject.

And welcome to the forum...

[ZMLC]

I have a separate tank for her with dirt and a light, but she is not comfortable being outside of her tank...I will definately check out the website to see what information I can find...My concern is that she's retaining eggs and will get sick and I just want to help her before things get worse...

Thank you all for your help and I will definately keep you posted...

[ZMLC]

I checked out the website and it was very very helpful...I thought that the fact she was swimming again was a good sign but now I read that is an indication she is about ready to lay eggs. I'm going to try to set up a nesting area in the tank for her.

Thanks again for the website info...helped me big time.

Dennise

[marisa]

Can you somehow create a nesting box that's connected to the tank so that she can get to it when she feels the need to? They can be fussy about where they lay their eggs.

Can you feel if she's gravid? (Gently place your index finger in the space in front of the hind legs. Does it feel lumpy? (The lumps would be the eggs.)

[ZMLC]

I'm definately going to make a nesting box for her within the tank...since that's the only place she seems to be comfortable in...(the separate dirt tank is not working out for her)

I am going to check if she's gravid...I've heard of it but wasn't quite sure how to do it...

Thanks so much for the advice...I really appreciate it...I'll keep you posted ~Dennise