Urgent Care :: Soft, unformed eggs?

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Post Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 12:00 pm   Soft, unformed eggs?

How big is your turtle? 7.7 pounds
How long have you had it? over 20 years

What is the water temperature? not sure
Did you use a thermometer? nope
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 45 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? not sure
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? It's a diy platform made from cutting boards
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? she eats omega one pellets and red leaf lettuce and her calcium floating block thing
When was the last time your turtle ate? just now

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 75 gallon
Is the tank near a window? yes
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? moderate activity

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? see below.


Hey, everyone. I have another Cecil question in relation to egg laying. All through June she was acting like she had eggs but did not lay any (yes, she has a nesting box). So at the beginning of this month I took her to the vet to check. The x-ray only showed one egg which I thought was odd. The vet recommended we go ahead and do the oxytocin to get the egg out so we did that and it came out fine. Since then, though, she has continued to "lay" what looks like empty soft shells. One came out while she was basking and two came out when she was pooping. They're just small white gelatinous globs with no yoke that I can see. Her behavior has been pretty normal. Slightly restless but mostly basking and eating like a pig. She looks bright eyed and alert and her shell looks good. When the vet saw her she said Cecil looks the best she's ever seen her. But I'm just worried because I've never seen Cecil push out soft shells like these.

So have any of you seen this happen before? Should I be worried. Cecil is a little over 30 years old, fyi.

Thanks!
zana
 
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Gender: Female

Post Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:37 am   Re: Soft, unformed eggs?

How many injections did she get? It does sound a bit weird, I'm not even sure what condition this would be under. Was she regularly gravid before?
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steve
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:35 pm   Re: Soft, unformed eggs?

steve wrote:How many injections did she get? It does sound a bit weird, I'm not even sure what condition this would be under. Was she regularly gravid before?


The vet gave Cecil one oxytocin injection. I asked her if she wanted to give a calcium injection but she said no. Since I made the post there have not been any more eggs though Cecil is still a bit restless. I have not heard back from the vet yet. I tried to call her again today and I'll try again tomorrow. Oh, and yes, Cecil has been gravid many times before. Thanks for the reply!
zana
 
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Gender: Female

Post Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 11:02 pm   Re: Soft, unformed eggs?

And she is alone? There are a few cases with female RES and overactive ovaries. As long as she is able to expel them, she should be OK.
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Post Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:03 am   Re: Soft, unformed eggs?

steve wrote:And she is alone? There are a few cases with female RES and overactive ovaries. As long as she is able to expel them, she should be OK.


She's alone. Always has been. I did finally talk to the vet. The clinic is actually out of injectable calcium right now which is why she didn't give it to her. She said it's on order and to check back next week. She also suggested, and I had never even heard of this before, having Cecil spayed but I'm not overly keen on that idea. My understanding is that surgery is really risky for turtles plus we'd have to travel into the city for it which would be a project. Another suggestion she made was getting Pet-Cal tablets (a calcium supplement) and quartering them and giving Cecil one quarter a week during her gravid times. So I went ahead and ordered that tonight and it should get here Sunday.

Cecil did not lay any more eggs today. She was pretty quiet and basking earlier in the day but towards evening she got restless so I put her in her nesting box. She seems quite happy to be in it so it will be interesting to see if anything comes of that.

Thanks again!
zana
 
Posts: 25
Joined: May 31, 2014
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:43 pm   Re: Soft, unformed eggs?

You can probably skip the calcium shots and a blood test to test can show you calcium levels. The surgery you mentioned is very risky and involves general anesthesia. Dis she use the nesting box before? Most RES don't like it.
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