General Care Discussion :: Abnormal sleeping behavior?

[christu]

I observed Zoe today, while she was outside in her tank. I have kept her outside during the day because i had no proper area in my room. I do have a smaller tank in my room, where she sleeps at night.

anyway, while she was outside, most of the day she has been sleeping. Is this something I should worry about? she's 6-7". Normally when I pick her up to take her in, she acts like she's trying to get away. Today, she went right back to sleep while I carried her. This alarmed me. So, I read the whole thing on mating, etc. She has no mate. I just thought she could be gravid. Which is not the case, she's not frantically swimming or trying to dig a hole.

Which also brings me to another question. What happens if she has no mate, and lays eggs?

[Arisu]

just to be clear...do you bring her whole tank setup outside during the day? many turtle keepers don't recommend hauling your tank outside because the direct sunlight can make the water temperature fluctuate too much.

what is the weather like in mississippi now that its winter time? check your water temps and take it from there.

to my knowledge, if your female lays eggs without a male, the eggs wont be fertilized therefore the eggs wont be successful.

[christu]

Well, no, I just take the turtle herself. She has an indoor tank and an outdoor tank. The latter being bigger. Its not directly in the line of any sunlight. Its under our Garage. I have two heaters and plenty of lighting, so I know the water isn't cold. I had a thermometer, but. . . she ate it. I'm going to get the digital one soon. Though, at those times the thermometer was uneaten, it always read around 70-80.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well,not to change te subject but about the themometer,but is she okay?Did you take her to the vet?Anyway,I don't know if you should keep her outside all day except night.

[christu]

Oh, she's fine after taking a bite of the thermometer. No harm done. It's been about a month ago. Why should I not keep her outside.

Has anyone had experience with a "pregnant" turtle? I've read the guide as to how to tell if she has eggs, tho i'm still not entirely sure what i'm looking for. I'm a bit worried. She has these "knots" behind her back legs. between her back legs and her tail. Maybe I'm paranoid and they were there before, but if so, I just noticed them.

Should I perhaps make a nesting site of sand or dirt and keep her in it for a while? or just wait to see if she lays eggs in the water?

[TupacTheTurle]

i've heard that the egg laying in water can be quite stressfull\painfull for the turtle

[Deon]

She has these "knots" behind her back legs. between her back legs and her tail. Maybe I'm paranoid and they were there before, but if so, I just noticed them.

those aren't eggs, the eggs are found, if any, in front of her hind leg, the area where she tucks her leg into, in the shell.
Also, it's bad to let her lay in water because that's not naturally where turtles lay so they'll either try to retain or lay out only one or two. A nesting site is much better.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well,if she's gonna lay eggs then you want to have a dry area for her,because if aquatic turtles lay eggs in water the babies will die,because they can't get air.It's also stressful for turtles to lay eggs in water.

[SpotsMama]

Are you sure her outside tank is warm enough? I don't know about Mississippi but here in Texas it's been really cold. I don't think we could keep an outside tank anywhere near warm enough for our turtle even with multiple heaters but maybe it's different where you are. I ask because one of the things that cold water does is make turtles lethargic. That's what your turtle sounds like - sleeping all the time.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Yeah I agree.You can have a dry area inside where it's warm

[christu]

Thanks for everyone's help. I guess I was just paranoid. She seemed to be more active today than she had been in the past few days.

The outside tank has never felt cold to me. It has been cool or sometimes quite warm. It hasn't been too awful cold here yet. I also don't think she's pregnant. I felt no eggs. Maybe she was just feeling particularly lazy the past few days.

With that, I have another question. About her eyes I've just noticed this red skin-like thing. I looked at other pics and don't remember seeing it before, or in pics on this site.





Its on both eyes, so I don't think I should worry. Perhaps its another part of her eye lid. I hate asking so many questions so often, but I'm just a paranoid parent, I suppose. And this clinic is free. lol

[SpotsMama]

Does it seem to be raw or irritated? In the photo all I can see is what looks like a bit of additional red striping above the eye that parallels the red "ear" stripe. It's not uncommon for RES to have a little extra red striping on their heads. Mine has a pretty red stripe right down the middle of his head.

[christu]

Well, its the pink "eyelid" which is at the front of her eye, it appears to close horizontally. If that makes sense. and the greenish eyelid closes like our lids do.