General Care Discussion

my turtles are affecting my gpa! but hey, i'm their mom....anyhow, the bathtub was a joke. it took a while to set up...i hate water, a ramp and a 10g aquarium filled with a nice combo of soils....perfect. i put her in the bathtub and she acted like she was being punished. she went into her shell and never moved for 5 hours. i put her back in the tank and immediately she started acting all frantic again.....what gets me the most is when she scrapes her hind legs on the ramp for the turtle topper....it literally makes me think of being buried alive!!! anyhow, next day i took her outside....she is getting to like this routine...she scopes a bit, then picks a place and sleeps. ????? every day for four days....no relief....next day i take out baby turtle because she is lonely and i thought i will do my homework outside....i was 3 feet away....i glance up...no baby turtle.....7 hours later, no baby turtle...big turtle still sleeping. i was a complete wreck!!! i checked this site and saw that i wasn't a negligent mother...other people have had it happen (please note: i had 4 foot cage and fencing surrounding the area....she is a little escape artist!! when i read that other people found their turtles i relaxed a bit...i have raccoons and i was scared of them finding her. i heard a car crunch something and i just about died having to see if it was her. i am sure my neighbors thought i was nuts. i looked for her with a flashlight til 4:00 am...then i remembered reading that they might be more active in the am. i got up, looked for things moving in the garden .... nothing....my cat went to the back storage area and was sniffing....i ran over...yep, there she was wedged between two boxes. put her in the tank and she acted like nothing had happened. i was so relieved!! life was good again!!! anyhow, big turtle stopped the franticness. not sure why or what but it seemed to break the chain, if you get my meaning. anyhow, last night though big turtle slept weird. i could hear breathing. i looked up and saw her completely vertical with her nose out of the water. she was resting peacefully, but every so often i could hear her inhale or exhale and that was new behavior. this morning, breakfast as usual and things seem ok....the tank is cloudy which worries me because i just did it yesterday (about 70% water change)...around the waterline it looks white and a little filmy like when she had the eggs and destroyed them....i just think something is wrong. the breathing and the water ...are they connected? the water is usually crystal clear....anyhow, i am going to change out some, scrub that filmy stuff off and see what happens. i have an xp4 which is working just fine and didn't introduce anything new.....OMG i never thought i would get so involved in turtles!!! please let me know your thoughts on this. i wish i could relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet, but i sense that this is not the end of the problem.

Wow what a tale! I want to offer our help and more information for your turts, but unfortunately I have no experience yet on nesting and egg-laying. Let's see what the other experienced forum members might say. To offer you a piece of mind, my cousin has a turtle that also exhibits the same franticness, weirdness, and digging and escaping motions. She says she can't sleep well because she's worrying that her turt may escape.

Whew! Glad you found her.

hi again...updated turtle report...i was up til 4 watching mr. turtle who started the signs of having eggs to lay again...i awoke several hours later and once again, water was cloudy (i siphoned a bit off yesterday and disposed of the white stuff abound) and she must have had an egg(s) in that six hour period (darn i missed it!) because there was obvious white crap (debris) on the tank floor. yesterday i removed all the gravel i had put in for her to lay eggs in just to see...so i siphoned up all that stuff and here i am writing you....funny you mentioned fear for little turtle...this morning for the first time ever i saw her open her mouth really wide and little turtle (a/k/a "freak show") be-lined it for the other side of the tank pronto. then mr. turtle moved closer and did it again....just like saying "i have the capability of snapping off your little anything..." of course i said "bad turtle" and he came up, nose first and looked at me like "you missed why"....regardless, i am taking her out of the tank for an outing and leaving freak show in (no more outside for freakshow after her weekend escape....) so i can only conclude she has more eggs and that this is not the end of it...what is your take on any of this (other than the fact that i need psychotherapy, of course....!!!) thanks....

I'm not sure I'm following. Is "freak show" a confirmed male?

bathtub was a no-go....what a mess as well! she just looked at me like "NFW" and after 4 hrs., i returned her to the tank. immediately she started the frantic stuff again....she didn't budge an inch in the tub (silly turtle!)...

went out, came back and there were egg fragments on the bottom of the tank (looked like maybe 2 or 3) and white yucky film around waterline....took care of that....woke up, more of the same...the tank just got a thorough cleaning 2 days before, so i really don't like to mess with the water so soon after, but i felt it was a necessity....ditto on the tank cleanup....two days later (today) same thing.

in her first clutch there were 9-10 eggs....now i figure she has sporadically laid 4-5 more. could this be it? she's not frantic now....very hungry....but a little 'snappish" with baby turtle which is new behavior...i wonder if she is just a bit "under the weather" or blue? i know my cats have been depressed over something from time to time....in fact one gained a ton of weight because she was depressed and this vet told me to switch something around in the house and then she was herself again (psycho kitty!! : ) maybe turtles get "yucky" too? hmmm....

little turtle still mimics big turtle's every move, but she is not sleeping on top of her or holding onto her all the time now. probably a smart thing....no signs of any biting or anything on her...she looks great. she digs and mimics big turtle's egg laying routine....that would bug me for sure if i was in a similar situation...she is very cute but often annoying, i would imagine, to mr. turtle. she is like overkill sometimes. (hence her nickname "freak show")

i wished for the thousandth time that i had the $$ for a vet...funny how i never feel lacking in $$ until it means that i can't provide for the "kids"....i like to give them all the best i can....but the vets around here are $$$$ (i have checked)....if push comes to shove i would borrow $$ from my ex-, but that would have to be a serious life/death deal. don't want to play that card....

she still is consuming all the calcium she can get....she literally inhales the calcium bone things...have gone through 4 in less than a month...probably 2-3 weeks. i don't see one in the tank now in fact. that is unusual for her.

anyhow, i am enjoying the peace and quiet for a change...nice break...she even went up and basked and did her "quacking" routine, which she hasn't done in a while. that made me feel good...that i took as an 'all's well" sign....

Were you only taking her out when she was showing gravid behavior?

she was always gravid...it was endless. i took her out when i was home and tried to make it when the sun was out so she culd stay warm....tonight i wanted to take her out (i was going to set up a basking lamp of some sort) but she was too tired. also there are a few huge raccoons that come to visit me at night (one just walks thru the front door....how rude!! haha)...there are a lot of cats that i feed as well and they are just too darn interested in her...(i had a dream about the raccoon eating the turtle and it frightened me a little)....everytime she waddled over to one spot and plopped and slept. once she was out for 7 hrs....and nothin .....i have a 9" x 14" (approx.) tupperware rectangular container in the tank now with fine gravel in it. she diggs in it. brought it outside once. she slept i have a lot of tropicals and succulents and she really gets lost in it. anyhow tonight i saw her bear down and a little bit of white fluidy stuff came out ...ok, question: so what if she had an X-ray and there were eggs n there still..what then? also,is there a certain time period she is supposed to accomplish this "feat" in? and lastly, how often? how old is she supposed to be to start this....i love her, but wish she was a "mr."....this has been a long miserable process or both of s....i tod her men always get off easily.....she winked!! (haha)..thx so much steve!

As for exhibiting signs, she might not do it 24/7. My RES was always specific on when she wanted out of the tank when she was gravid. I think she was only 4 or 5 at time. Their sexual maturity has more to do with their size than age.

It could take a several weeks to lay the eggs or she might just expel them in water. I would be concerned about the raccoons. Rats can also be very dangerous to turtles.

She sounds identical to Tobi girls laying behaviour. Shes already layed 3 clutches this year. Her most was I think 2007...1st time laying and after all was said and done she layed over 30 eggs.
I even had the vet check her and got her xrayed...tried inside boxes, etc. But she wont lay unless shes outside OR occassional in tank laying.
It is VERY VERY CRAZY!!! I feel for you and Mr. Turtle. My vet just thinks its a sign of a very healthy turt. and that when shes gravid after she lays, her body just makes more eggs until shes done...lol
How old, big, etc is Mr. Turtle???
Tobi is about 9 years old and about 5 lbs. And a foot long and about 6-7 inches wide. Shes a BIG girl!!!

And about the turt who wont lay bc its too cold. Take her outside anyway if inside boxes eyc. do not work.....if possible run a heat lamp when youre sure shes found her spot and starts hind leg digging. If you cant run a lamp 50 isnt too bad. Just follow her around with a small pitcher of warm water...when she finds her spot...slowly pour water where her hind legs are digging, but dont pour on her, it could stop her from digging and she'll move. But if she stays, use the warm water & bring a hand towel to cover all but her head with. She will be ok. Ive had to do it a couple times with my girl. She even seemed to go quicker. Lol
Good luck!!!!

hi again...that's weid....i answered but i dont see evidence of it anywhere.....hmm...the bathtub? no way....she acted like she was being punished or something.....still no digging inside, outside, nowhere but in the tank....silly turtle! anyhow, i had big AND little turtle outside one day and never left....little turtle escaped....by dark i was a complete mess! this site really helped meout tho....it calmed me down and gave me hope. i bought pediolite just in case. my kitty found her....this all seemed to break the cycle of gravid mr. turtle....last nite it started up again..trust me, i didnt miss it at all....but for a week before every day I had to change out water....could not tell how many eggs had been laid, but there were shell bits on the bottom and a milky film at the waterline....i hated doing it so often cause I know its not optimal, but it looked so yucky i had to....i guess there is nothing i can do...just wait it out? this all started mid march....is it always this long? how often is this going to happen each year? is this 'normal'? sorry to throw so much at u....know that i am totally dedicated to my turtles and willing to do whatever is necessary .... just dont know what that is!!

At least she's laying them. It's not easy to know when it'll stop (check out some of camee's other posts) but I would try to keep her environment as clean as possible.

General Care Discussion :: Ach! Egg laying season--again! But it's too cold out...

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