General Care Discussion :: Turtles haven't had any eggs

[Niksan878]

Hello to everyone!


First of all I'd like to tell you how happy I am to have found such a place where you can share your experience with other red ear slider owners !

I'm Nikolai and I have 2 female red ear sliders - Suzi and Donna (don't ask me about the names..I was very young when I got the turtles ). They are 12 years old.. Since when I got my turtles I was a little boy, I didn't read as much as I should have to provide them with EVERYTHING they need... My biggest mistake was not to provide my sliders a proper HATCHING area.

Now that I started reading more in the internet about the creatures, I found out that even if there aren't any males to mate with, the female turtles HAVE to lay their infertile eggs so that they can be healthy. Also one of the symptoms that a turtle wants to lay eggs is a random very active behavior.. One of my turtles is constantly swimming towards the glass with no apparent reason...

Since my pets are 12 years old and don't think that they have EVER layed any eggs, I wanted to ask you guys if this is dangerous for them? Do they really NEED to lay eggs in order to be healthy? How can I provoke such a thing? I'll be installing a bigger and more secluded basking area with small rocks so that they have the proper place to lay their eggs, but is that enough?


Thank you!
Niksan.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Well you might of misread a little. It says a female can lay infertile eggs without a male. That means she doesnt have too to have eggs. So seeing as she has never laid eggs you are fine. Also females can reabsorb eggs into their systems again sometimes. So its like you will never know she had eggs.

Your females mights feel the temps fell like its end of summer always and two late to lay eggs for the year. Lots of different can help trigger eggs and you might just happen to have the setup that triggers them not to want to lay eggs ever.

[Niksan878]

Diamondbacks4Life, thank you for the answer..As I can recall, the turtles have been living in a fairly cold environment (10-12 C in the winter and 17-20 C in the summer)... so maybe this has stopped them from having eggs? As I finished my education and am now living on my own back in my home town, I decided to take them live with me in my new apartment (like 3 weeks ago). As I started reading about proper caring for turtles, I bought them a heater and now the water temperature is around 25C (as it should be according to what I have read)...Do you think that this "climate" change might trigger them to lay eggs? I am also planning on making a big hatching area where they can lay eggs...What material do you think I should use for that area - small rocks, mud, sand or maybe something else?

Thanks!

[sflemin2]

Yes, it probably is the temperature. My 10 year old has laid them twice..both times in the Spring. Both times was the Spring following a tank upgrade..but that is just an observation. It might be coincidence. You should mix sand and dirt and put it in a rubbermaid (with a heat lamp) that is twice as deep as they are long..but my turtle doesnt feel comfortable enough to lay them anywhere but in the tank (which is bad ..this can cause egg binding). I have read a lot of people have had luck by letting them lose in the yard and they will lay them their. Do you have a fenced in yard? They don't like people to watch them..but you don't want to leave them unsupervised so its tricky. This might go on for a while.. I have been dealing with this for like a month now. Her behavior is finally starting to calm down. She laid another one this morning. If she lays the eggs in the water, you will probably never see it because they eat them! Look for bits of egg shell at the bottom of the tank. Also, you can feel for eggs. Steve shows me this video and it was really helpful
http://youtu.be/qY2pRyQgn9o

[Niksan878]

sflemin2, that was really helpful video, thanks! I'll check my turtles for eggs...Other than that did you say that the dirt+sand dept should be TWICE the length of the turtles?? In my case that would be 40cm...

[sflemin2]

Yeah.. taking them outside is much easier. I couldnt find a way to make a big enough nesting area..the rubbermaid was too small for my girl who is 9 inches. If she has eggs, when you see her swimming around frantically, thats when you put her in the nesting area. If you do it in a container, put her somewhere quiet where she can have privacy or she probably wont lay them. And let me know what kind of setup you come up with..because the rubbermaid just isnt big enough for my big momma! lol! I wish I could put one in the tank so she could just swim up to it. Some people have done that but their turtles are smaller it seems. Now that its FINALLY warm (and not violently storming) out, I am going to try to take her outside. She always lays them in the morning though..usually when I am at work though. She laid one today right before I left and I missed it!

Its weird when you feel the eggs for the first time haha

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Its weird when you feel the eggs for the first time haha

So that video you posted, when you did feel the turtle. It worked just like the video and how he explained you could feel them?

[Niksan878]

sflemin2, I'll build the thing probably this weekend.. and let you know if it worked:) Other than that, good luck with your turtle..

Yesterday I tryed to feel the turtles eggs... the problem is that she hides her leg inside of the shell so i think i'm just feeling the knee of the turtle...I'm afraid to push harder or try to move the leg, since she's keeping it in there very strong

cheers!

[sflemin2]

I am lucky that my preggie turtle is my cooperative turtle. My other female would never let me feel her for eggs but Sylvie didn't tuck her legs in. You might need to let her out for a little bit and let her get comfortable enough to not jump in her shell. You don't need to press at all whatsoever. To me, it felt like little BBs (Does everyone know what BBs are? http://media.ebcu.com/product/imgage/To ... 687b9c.jpg) floating under her skin..they really do come up to your finger, I barely even touched her and I felt them. Here is a pic of where to feel them

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Okay thanks. Just wondering. Cause the video is mine on youtube ~.^ Just making sure it is helpful like i intended

[sflemin2]

OOH..haha I see! So you made the video..yes it was very helpful! Steve showed that to me when I was freaking out about Sylvie

[steve]

sflemin2, I'll build the thing probably this weekend.. and let you know if it worked:) Other than that, good luck with your turtle..

Yesterday I tryed to feel the turtles eggs... the problem is that she hides her leg inside of the shell so i think i'm just feeling the knee of the turtle...I'm afraid to push harder or try to move the leg, since she's keeping it in there very strong

cheers!

My girl doesn't like to be handled either so I would keep an area where she can dry off and walk around on the floor. Then when she stops and if her leg is extended out, I'll go in and try to feel for any eggs.

[richieboy]

No idea you are the author of the vids on youtube. Good work man, I watched every one of them! I liked the little frog series too.