Urgent Care :: My female RES just laid an egg in the tank.What do I do now?

[OrangeStorm]

I just found a broken egg shell in the tank. My Female RES must've laid an egg and ate it. I felt terrible.

So how many eggs can she lay at once? I put her in a tub with some top soil. Do I need keep her at certain temperature? She seems to want to get out of tub. How long should I leave her in there?

This is the first time I've found egg in the tank. She didn't show any classical signs of being gravid. We recently upgraded to a 75 gallon tank for her and the other male RES because she escaped out the smaller tank we had. She hasn't been basking in the new tank as much as she used to. I don't think they've mated successfully. The male is much smaller in size and the female never showed any interest when he does the mating dance

So please help me. What should I do to keep her safe during this time? How do I know when she needs to be in the nesting box and she's done with laying eggs?

[Jeremiah]

Nesting boxes don't usually work. Check out this page: http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

You need to separate the turtles, no matter how "safe" their interactions appear to be. Females don't need to mate successfully, in order to lay eggs.

As for when to put her in the nesting box, wait until she starts acting in a really hyper manner. Once she starts doing this, you can put her in the box. I'm not sure if you have access to a yard, but if your temperatures outside are at least 60F and sunny you can take her out to lay eggs. This works almost 100% of the time. Other than that, she'll probably keep dropping them in the water.

[OrangeStorm]

We've been putting her in the nesting box in the past a few days for a few hours a day. I saw her one time kept swimming towards the corner of the tank, then put her in the nesting box. Still she didn't lay any eggs. All she did was bury herself entirely in the soil. Tonight, she dropped another egg in the water! I didn't see it's coming at all. She always begs for food, she is more hyper active compared to the boy. I couldn't figure her out.

Is there any visual/physical signs that indicates she still carries eggs? The ambient temperature is about 70 now, should I keep the nesting box heated (having a lamp over)? Thanks a lot!

[steve]

You might be able to feel for the eggs. Mixed in with a male, she will have more eggs frequently. You'll also looking at separation as well since males become aggressive towards their tank mates.

[OrangeStorm]

I separated them. My girl stayed in the nesting box for almost 10 hours yesterday. All she did was burrowed in the soil. She didn't move much at all. At night, I put her in the smaller tub. A few hours later, she laid an egg! Thank god for the smaller tub. I saved the egg before she had a chance to turn around. I am 99% sure the egg is not fertilized. But to be safe, I followed all the things I read online. Let's wait for 2 months, see what happens.

So I fed her and put her back in the nesting box. She did the same thing... burrowed herself entirely in the soil and stayed there for the whole night. I thought they burrow to hibernate. What does it mean when a gravid female burrows herself? Has anyone ever seen the females do that? Thanks. I wish I can read her mind lol.

[steve]

She burrows because she is uncomfortable... either temperatures or she's stressed.