General Care Discussion :: NESTING BOX ADVICE NEEDED

[LKitsch]

I have a female RES that may be gravid because she seems to be showing the signs---feeding less and trying to get out of the pond. I have a large nesting box with all of the requisite soil and conditions, so I put her into it, but nothing happens, and after a while, she wants to get out. So I take her out and let her wander about, but the surfaces are hard, so there is no where else for her to dig, if she wants. Any advice for getting her to stop being so particular about where she lays her eggs? Should I just leave her in the box all day? For several days? Do I need a basking lamp in the nesting box? Creating a soil bank in the pond is not practical at this time. Thanks all!

[DavidY]

You should have some way to keep the soil in the upper 70's to low 80's to entice her to use it. It should also have some moisture to it (not dry but not wet). Reptiles can be very picky about where they lay their eggs. It also probably has to do with timing to. I would leave her in their for several hours at a time. Put her back in the water for food and rehydration, then back in the nesting box for several hours again (then back in the water at night). How big is your nesting box? She should have enough room to move around freely. You could also try sloping the dirt and see if she might prefer digging into a slight incline. Also try putting some plastic plants in there for cover. If she does stay in there for more than a few hours you should also put a basking light in there too.

[steve]

They all will have their own preferences as to when and where they want to nest. I put my girl in a huge 50 gallon tub of dirt and she wouldn't want anything to do with it.

I have heard of people waiting until their turtles were making kicking motions to place them into a nesting box.

Can't you take her somewhere outside?

[LKitsch]

The box is quite large and she has plenty of room to move about in it. DavidY, your suggestions are good ones and I will try them.

Unfortunately no outside space to dig---I live in a town house and all my outdoor space is tile.

Steve, your suggestion to wait til she is actually digging with her back feet makes sense.

[DavidY]

Another idea for outdoor space that others have tried is to take them to a field somewhere and let them walk around for a couple of hours to see if she can find a suitable nesting site on her own (follow her at a reasonable distance of course).

[pumpkinsherbet]

do turtles get gravid around the same time of year? like cats, dogs, etc. are in heat around certain times of year?

someone, i think it was industrial girl, mentioned taking her turtle for a walk and letting the turtle decide where to nest. they like to nest near bodies of water, so the hatchlings can jump into it easily, and i've also read that they are very very picky. maybe try a lake? (and keep a good eye out)

[DavidY]

He he, don't get too close to the lake! Actually RES can sometimes wander a fair distance from their pond/lake before finding a suitable site to lay her eggs. And I think they normally start mating after they come out of hibernation. Egg laying would usually follow several weeks later. But since our gals don't hibernate...??

[LKitsch]

I'm going to try the box at home first. The idea of taking the turtle to the wilds sounds cool, but extremely time consuming since I live in the middle of the city.

[SpotsMama]

That sounds like a plan. However, if you've got any little parks around they might do if they have suitable terrain.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I'm going to try the box at home first. The idea of taking the turtle to the wilds sounds cool, but extremely time consuming since I live in the middle of the city.

I would even try a beach area since you are in LA & it might be a shorter trip for you. The warm beach sand may entice her to lay her eggs too.

[Kayra33]

This is the kind of information that I needed also. My female RES hasn't shown any signs of wanting to lay eggs. But I thought that I should make a basking area and a nesting area all one. Now I get that you don't. I'll just make a box too! Thanks for the info!!

[LKitsch]

Actually, if you could make both basking and nesting areas one, or at least adjacent and connected to each other, that would be the ideal---think of their natural habitat where they climb out of the pond onto a rock or log to bask, and then amble over to a sandy dirt patch under a bush to lay their eggs.

But, alas, most of us don't have the space to set up something as elaborate as Mother Nature---you would need a huge enclosed dry area that was integrated into your aquatic set up. If you have an outdoor pond in your yard, you may be able to replicate a pond somewhere on the Bayou. I imagine it would be much tougher with an indoor pond.

In addition, if you are adding the element of dirt and sand to your habitat, that means you are complicating the process of filtering the water, because the sand and dirt will clog up any filters and create more dirt in the water.