General Care Discussion :: RES possibly ready to lay eggs

[heyitserika]

Today I was at my mom's house and noticed my turtle was acting unusual. She was very antsy to get out of her tank, so I took her outside, and she started digging. I am a little concerned now that she might be "pregnant". She is a RES, and the other turtle in the tank is a yellow belly. Is it even possible for them to mate? I have absolutely no experience in turtle breeding, so I am not sure what to do. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[n00bEmpty]

If it's a yellow belly then it's possible they mated. When she lays her eggs then you have two choices.
1. Throw away the eggs so the babies wouldn't be born.
2. Inculpate the eggs and wait ~3(?) months for them to be born.
If you choice to save then you're going to have to be responsible and provide a suitable habitat for them and you can't put them in with your larger turtles because the larger ones will bully, hurt or possibly kill them.
It's also a possible that your turtle didn't mate and is just gravid, female turtles tend to lay eggs fertilized or not every year.

[heyitserika]

How will I know when she's ready to lay them? And should I take her completelyout of water when she is ready to do so?

[n00bEmpty]

She'll be ready when she's ready. the best thing you can do is if either make an outdoor nesting spot for her, like if you have a garden or a patch of land you don't use then put here there but make sure to have fences that are deep (1 ft deep) in the ground so they can't dig their way out and high (at least 1 1/2 their shell length so they can't climb out) and let her out there for 1-3 hours a day so she'll feel comfortable and when she feels like she's comfortable with laying her eggs there then she'll lay them.
Your second option is to get a large Rubbermaid box and fill it with 1/2 soil 1/2 sand that's 1 feet(?) deep and put her in there for 1-2 hours everyday and if she likes it she'll lay her eggs there. It's a draw of luck but you have to keep putting her in the place she can lay eggs in everyday or else she might lay her eggs in the water which if the egg is fertilized kills the baby inside it (can't say hatchling since it hasn't hatched yet)

[steve]

Was she digging with her hind feet or front?

[heyitserika]

She was digging with her back legs.

[steve]

Sounds like she was ready to lay them! If she finds a spot that's comfortable, that's great. So many keepers cannot provide a nesting spot that their turtles like. If she's still exhibiting signs of wanting to nest, I'll try to get her out there again.