General Care Discussion :: First Clutch

[caramelissa]

Hi, I hope people are still around, cause my turtle also just laid some eggs and I was wondering if someone can help answer a few questions.

My turtle was acting really restless, and after reading the "egg laying" info section, I kinda figured maybe my turtle needed to lay some eggs. Ironically, when I let her out of the aquarium into my backyard while I was preparing a nesting box, she actually found a spot on the groud and started to dig. I didn't want to disturb her and try to move her to the nesting box so I just let her do her thing there. About 4-5 eggs were laid, and she seems pretty calm now, so I'm wondering if more are coming. One egg was cracked. I'm worried... should I be worried??

[steve]

You did the right thing. Once they start digging, they get into a "zone" until they are finished. If she and her tankmate are active, it could be another clutch along the way, though it could be weeks or months. Was the egg cracked when you dug it up? How big were they? If this is her first clutch?

[SpotsMama]

My guy's a male, so I don't have first hand experience, but it seems to me that people on here say sometimes their turtles lay their eggs over several days, but I don't think that's always the case. Sometimes they just lay small clutches and that's it. I think as long as she needs to lay she be restless. When she's finished she'll be calm.

Be sure she gets plenty of good food right now. She's working hard. She'll need calcium to replace what's used for the eggs.

[caramelissa]

i don't have any other turtles but the one, so the eggs are unfertilized. I'm not exactly sure if the egg came out cracked, or maybe the egg was cracked when she moved her hind foot or something, but it's definitely a broken egg. this is my turtle's first clutch, and i'd say the eggs were about 3/4" to 1". Also, she seems kind of uninterested in food. I try and get her to eat something, but usually she won't eat unless i motivate her by pointing at the food (she's fascinated with my finger).

[SpotsMama]

I think when she needs to lay eggs that's all she can think about. When she's finished, though, she'll be hungry as a bear.

[steve]

[I made this into a new topic]

How did the egg look? Did it look normal compared to the other eggs?

You can offer her a treat after all the hard work she's done. My female RES is a notorious eater, so she was ready to eat after a few minutes.

[caramelissa]

I think you're referring to the broken egg...the egg was cracked all the way around and i think some of insides came out. Compared to the others, it was on the small side, although there was another unbroken egg just as small. this is a first time experience for me and i'm kinda getting paranoid, so i plan on taking her to the vet for a checkup.

[steve]

If she's returned to normal, I don't think its necessary to take her in -- though a checkup is not a bad idea and you can at least decide if you like them. If the broken egg was normal compared with the others (and not off color, brittle or had an odor), then she's probably OK. The vet can take an xray to see if there are more eggs, but that would not be cheap.