General Care Discussion :: Turtle nest and laying eggs

[marisa]

But a mature female will lay eggs regardless of whether or not there's a male around, they just won't be fertile. And if a female has mated with a male, she can still lay fertile eggs for around three years after having done so.

Your turtle needs have proper nesting area to lay eggs in rather than just let her deposit them under a beanbag chair or wherever. A good site for info why this is important and how you can make one for her can be found at http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm

(edit typo)

[industrial_girl_2000]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THAT EGG-LAYING SITE!!!

FYI: it just needs one less "/" in the url to make it work. Try this:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm

[marisa]

Thanks--I usually try them after I've typed them, but was in a really hurry last night. Glad the typo was really obvious.

[Spookster]

She finally laid an egg. Only one so far and it was peanut M&M size. Apparently she doesn't like her nesting area though because she laid this one in her tank. We put her out in her nesting area after we found the first egg in the tank. She digs holes in her nesting area but we haven't found any other eggs so far. Maybe now that she has squeezed her first one out she will get better at this and stop driving me nuts.

[steve]

Congrats!!!

[steve]

Any more eggs? My RES made another nest today, but no eggs were found. She was only at it for 2 1/2 hours and she did make the effort to dig and cover the nest but I couldn't find anything.

[Spookster]

Any more eggs? My RES made another nest today, but no eggs were found. She was only at it for 2 1/2 hours and she did make the effort to dig and cover the nest but I couldn't find anything.

Only the one so far. If she laid any in her nesting area outside she must have hid them well because we didn't find any. She hasn't acted crazy anymore since she laid the one in the tank so she must be done for the time being. So nerve racking. My wife said she wants us to have a baby and I said not if you act like the turtle we won't. lol

[steve]

LOL.

Well these eggs are hard to find... I finally found 2... they are a bit larger than the previous ones. She made this nest about 2 feet away from her previous nest. They do an immaculate job of packing the soil in and covering the area.

[missibsu]

Steve, how often in a season are the females likely to lay eggs?

[steve]

I've read up to 3, though I think I read someone had a RES lay eggs 4 times once. I was surprised she was ready again since this is her first season of laying eggs.

[Spookster]

Well she is at it again. She refuses to lay her eggs outdoors. She's laid a few more in her tank again. I swear we have the most stubborn and picky turtle alive.