General Care Discussion :: Twitching?!??!

[marisa]

If you're going to let your turtle roam on the grass in a public place like a park, please make sure no toxic pesticides are being used there...

[Hil Is Sweet]

Goooood Idea!

[camee1991]

Hil Is Sweet: Your pictures are lovely! What a gorgeous girl!

And no there will be no babies in the eggs...if she is "pregnant". Its not BAD if she hasnt ever laid eggs, but she may be ready now. "scratching the butt" is a sign also of being gravid "pregnant". It looks like her back feet are trying to kick her own butt, right?

The only way to tell if she is preg. is by (WHEN SHE IS OUT WALKING)....very carefully while her back legs are extended, put your pointing fingers into the smooshy area in FRONT of her back legs and feel around in there. If she IS preg. it will feel like grape like things or say peanut M&M's...Feel from top to bottom and push into her gently.
You can also get a vet xray.
If she is gravid there is nothing you can do yourself to get the eggs out. If she is showing these signs, she needs to get to some deep grassy area to dig her hole and lay her eggs. Sometimes turtles DO lay in the water or elsewhere. My girl is picky and will, so far, only lay outside.
If she keeps acting this way and nothing happens, you can get a shot of a drug called Petocin (same stuff as Dr.s give pregnant mommies to start contractions) to start her labor and help her lay the eggs. Otherwise, you need to let her out of tank to walk as much as possible, go out if you can, or try a LARGE box with dirt in it and keep her there a WHILE...unless she is totally just wanting out of the box and not trying to dig her back legs at all. That means she isnt ready yet. Just be sure to watch her all the time if you have her in a box or outside. In a box they are really prone to falling over backwards and not being able to turn over..thus could die if you arent there to turn them back over.
She could die from not laying eggs. It is really important that you do all you can to help her find comfortable places for her "instinct" to kick in and lay those eggs.

In the RES BASIC CARE area of this forum, you can read more about having a pregnant turtle.

[Hil Is Sweet]

You are the best!! I am going to walmart tonight to get her a big plastic tub to fill with dirt and she can walk around and play in it. Hopefully lay eggs. Who knows!!

Thankssss!!

[camee1991]

Hil Is Sweet: No problem

Have you gotten to check her for eggs?? What did you feel?

Also, if you get your tub, make sure it is TALL and long (as big as possible) and also make sure that you put as much dirt/soil mix in there as you can. The deeper the better. Most turtles when digging holes to lay eggs will dig as deep as their back legs are long. So some pretty deep holes!

Hang in there and let us know how it all goes!!

[Hil Is Sweet]

Ok sooo I felt near her back legs, they felt like a hard lump. So today i'm off to walmart to get some dirt and a big tub she can dig around in!

[my_manuelita_turtle]

Whats the minimum size of a turtle, to lay eggs?

[SpotsMama]

my_manuelita_turtle, here's a link on turtle reproduction that should answer your questions:

http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

[Hil Is Sweet]

So I got a big tub and put a bunch of top soil w/o chemicals and stuff in it. She's just wandering around in there. So how long do I keep her in there and how often??

And I read that link that spotsmama put up. She's only about a year and a half, but she's 6-7 inches. So she isn't old enough according to that link but she's big enough. I'm confused!

[camee1991]

Hil Is Sweet: Did you feel the FRONT of her hind legs...not the back by her tail...that part will always be hard. If so, and you felt something...she IS large enough to be pregnant.

Just put her in the tub daily as much as you can for a couple hours a time if you can...and make sure she dont fall over! They will just wander and try to climb out normally...but they WILL sometimes lay their eggs in there.

Just hang in there. She may lose her symptoms. And if she does, dont worry just yet. I was told by a Red Eared Slider breeder that if the eggs are un-fertilized that they can re-absorb them sometimes. But is she shows any signs of illness, please take her to a vet ASAP! k?

[Hil Is Sweet]

thanks so much! she seems to be ok in that tub. she got all dirty and i was washing her off and she bit the faucet haha. goof.