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I have a 20 year old RES that has never laid eggs before. Recently upgraded her tank setup and she's been doing great. As of 3 weeks ago, she started eating a lot more than usual and spends most of the day basking. This lasted for a little over a week. Then she stopped eating completely and became very restless - swimming into the walls back and forth, trying to climb out of the basking loft, etc. Initially when she started doing this, I tried palpating for any eggs and couldn't feel any. After about a week, she started the classic hind leg digging maneuver. I placed her in a nesting box and she immediately started digging.

This is where I made a mistake. I kept her there for several hours. When I went to check on her, her eyes were closed and I thought she was done and fell asleep. So I removed her to place her back in the tank. That's when I noticed she dug a huge hole, but there are no eggs. The next day her behavior was completely back to normal: calmly swimming, basking for a few hours, and appetite has returned (and is huge!). I walked her around the following day and tried palpating again, and this time I could definitely feel eggs. So I placed her back in the nesting box overnight, but she didn't dig or lay any eggs. Still eating very well and otherwise acting fine.

I'm wondering do I continue putting her in the nesting box every night or wait until she becomes restless/frantically tries to escape again? How long does it typically take to lay eggs once they show signs of being gravid? How long should I wait before worrying about possible needing oxytocin?

Thanks in advance!

Put her in the box when she starts acting restless. Is the box deep enough? Did she dig with her rear feet? Do you have areas outside for her to try?

She should also act restless around the same time of day so you can better anticipate it.

The box is about a foot deep. The first time I put her in she immediately starting digging with her rear feet, kind of alternating between the two feet every 15-20sec at a time. It looked like the inside of the hole was hollowed out and bigger compared to the part at the surface. I'm worried that I disrupted her before she was done, mistakenly thinking she had finished. I live in an apartment in a city, so not a lot of great options outdoors.

She was acting restless the entire day (swimming like crazy, trying to climb out) during the week leading up to the first nesting attempt. But the digging with hind legs on the basking dock was around sunset.

Should I wait until she's restless again before putting her in the box? I've been putting her in every night without success. She's been very calm the past 2 days and her appetite has returned. Will she start exhibiting the restless behaviors again once she's ready?

I would only put her in when she’s restless. The time for her to lay them in a nest might have passed and you might need to look out for the eggs in the water or basking spot.

Oh no, will keep a look out. When would that typically happen/how long should I wait? Thank you!!

There’s no real time table, it could happen in a week or two. If you have access to a herp/exotics vet, they should be able to give her an injection to lay them, though that is also not a guarantee.

I see… I’ll look into setting up a vet appointment next week if still no luck. She’s back to basking after her large breakfast. Anything I can do in the meantime to help her along? Been spending a lot of time on the internet and really worried about her retaining.

Nothing naturally you can do. It’s all very automatic and instinctive when it comes down to it… a bit incredible too.

I took her to the vet yesterday. Eggs confirmed on XR. He said they all looked okay (not too big, not broken, etc), and there shouldn’t be any issues passing them. Gave her one shot of oxytocin. Put her in the nesting box after coming home, and unfortunately still no eggs this morning. I was told to give another dose 12hrs after the first if no luck, so I just did that. She’s otherwise acting totally normal - eating, walking around, etc. still no signs of wanting to nest. I have a third dose just in case, but wondering if this is normal? What should I do if she still doesn’t lay? Is it possible that the eggs haven’t descended low enough into the pelvis to pass? At a loss here and very worried.

At this point if the injections don't work, then you can hope that she will just expel the eggs in the tank. If the vet instructed you to give a 3rd dose, I would do that but it usually occurs right away after the shot.

She didn’t respond to the injections. Still behaving normally - swimming/exploring a lot, great appetite, basks in the afternoons. Waiting to see if the vet has further suggestions. But it might just be a waiting game for when she’s ready. Should I expect any behavioral changes if she lays them in the tank? How long is the wait usually? Thanks again!!

No estimate on when but should be soon. I would not expect any behavior changes, although there is a good chance she might eat them (she just thinks its food) and you might see the water being a little foul.