General Care Discussion :: What are the signs YOU saw with your gravid female?

[BullDog]

This is a Q for those of you who have dealt with gravid females before. What signs did you notice when she was gravid? Did you see most of the signs (restlessness, increased basking, digging motions)? Or just one or two?

I ask, because I saw some odd behaviour from Frankie tonight. She was on the bottom of the tank, and giving the occasional dig with her hind legs, and she was almost in a trance-like state. She was staring straight ahead, and pretty much ignoring me. She didn't even notice when I held the pellet bottle in front of her, or when I put the pellets in the water. After a couple minutes she snapped out of it, and went mad over the pellets as usual.

But there have not been any of the other signs. She hasn't been restless at all, and she actually been basking a bit less than usual. She hadn't been basking for a couple days, so I turned the heater down a notch yesterday because I noticed the water was on the warm side. She was basking today.

She did eat a good size piece of cuttlebone yesterday (about 1.5x head size), but that's not unusual.

I was wondering if perhaps she's in the early stages of being gravid, or if she was just being weird.
Anyhow, I'll keep a close eye on her. I've got a sterilite box that I bought for her, but I'll have to buy some dirt. And if I can catch her basking tomorrow, I'll feel in front of her legs.

[mackadocious]

more frequent attempts to escape for sure.....maybe a little bit of the hind foot digging action, tho not consistently.....several times in the last couple years i got worried that i was gonna see eggs again, and even caught her digging in the nesting material i provided (i was so excited i thought i'd finally provided something appropriate) but no eggs since the first and only batch....unless she did lay 1 or 2 in the water when i wasn't home and ate all the evidence....that is possible as most of the eggs i have found were partially eaten....

[steve]

The restlessness and escapes came at certain times of the day (usually the morning), my turtle would also ignore me which is very unusual... she was in sort of a "zone". There wasn't as much kicking or digging, but the need to get out was the main symptom. Both times she nested was the day after a rain storm even though she was not outside.

[BullDog]

Hmm... Interesting. Thanks guys! So it looks like the need to escape is pretty common.

Steve, did you get your female to nest in a box?

[steve]

The first two times were during the summer and she easily made nests in the backyard. The last time was during the winter and she laid her eggs in the tank. The nesting box was a smashing failure.

[BullDog]

Huh... I wonder if anyone has successfully got their female to lay in a box

[steve]

I'm sure it has happened, but it seems chances for it to happen are pretty slim. I think in the future, I'll have spot for her to roam around and go to it herself, rather than just being placed in there.