General Care Discussion :: Gravid Female RES---What to do About a Picky Mama

[LKitsch]

I posted a few months ago about the best set up for my female RES's, so they would have the right kind of nesting environment when they are gravid. I keep four females in a 200 gallon pond, but because it is artificial and above ground, there is no natural dirt banks for them to lay eggs in, even though it has nice basking areas and plenty of room and filtration. So, based on advice I got from this board, I set up a nesting box and followed all the directions people gave me.

To date, only one of the females is mature enough to produce eggs. I can see when she wants to lay because of her behavior. She will spend hours wandering around the patio and bottom floor of my townhouse, looking for a spot and at times seeming to be trying to dig with her hind legs. I live in the middle of the city, so there is no big yard, no dirt areas, no grass. When I see her do this, I immediately place her in the nesting box. At that point, she immediately tries to climb out, even with all that nice moist, warm soil on a slight incline, etc.

Short of doing what I don't want to do---either dump a mound of dirt all over my patio or in a corner of my living room or build a bank inside the pond (all three options are either impossible or unacceptable)---what can I do? Should I leave her in the box all day, even though she is trying to escape, with the hope that she settles down and gets down to laying her eggs? I know that she has occasionally laid eggs in the water, but I understand they hate to do that and it stresses them out. Thanks!

[iac637]

Do you leave her in there for a while even though she is trying to get out or do you take her right out? I would leave her in the box for a while maybe not all day. How large is the nesting box that you built? are you sure that its large enough and deep enough?

[LKitsch]

How long should I leave her in there for?

The box is 18" wide by 24" long by 18" high with about 8 - 10" of dirt in it. It has a basking lamp.

[scripta_elegans]

Would it be possible to make a ramp up to the nesting box on the patio? She might be more comfortable using it if she can choose to go in or out at her leisure. I would also leave her out there for a little while, alone if you can, to encourage her use of the box.

[marisa]

I second some sort of way to make it possible for her to go the nesting box when she wants to. Is there any way you can put it on something (a box) the same height as the pond with a way for her to climb out into it? A ramp of corkbark would work well.

[mackadocious]

i have stressed about this quite a bit....one of mine laid 5 eggs back in january, all in the water, despite my attempts at getting her to use my little nest....she's still alive and back at it.....we moved a couple weeks ago to tennessee and spent 16+ hours altogether in the car.....i had turtles and cats in my vehicle and was gonna keep them in a smaller box all covered so they'd sleep but the fiestier of the two tried to escape immediately so i ended up putting both of them in their empty tank with a towel in the bottom.....we stopped in virginia to get gas and eat and i found a couple eggs in the tank.....i have since found the remains of at least one more egg, possibly two in the water again (it was a big mess they made after eating it/them).....

after some advice on here after the first clutch, i bought a tupperware container and cut it down to size so it would fit down into the tank and attached a bridge to it that went down to their basking area after lowering the water.....it was never used as it should though and she liked to take nose dives off the ramp down and developed multiple cuts....long story, i took the thing out, out of frustration......

i definitely think they prefer it on their own terms though (duh)....i would try making the nesting area a little bigger maybe so she doesn't feel so constricted and tries to escape, and/or put it in an are of the house that she gravitates towards, cut a hole out of the side of it and add a ramp,

or if you had the space, start from nothing and grade the dirt up to the depth you've got, then you don't need the ramp....either way it'll be messy...there was a lot of dirt in our tank before removing the nest....

now that i have the space, i'm going to try building a play pen with no bottom to stick outside and see if they like that at all

good luck

[mackadocious]

oh, and might try with it dark....some sites say some prefer to lay at night/in the dark....which also reminds me....try putting her in at different times of day/night....

[marisa]

I've never heard of laying eggs in the dark---they're diurnal (active during the day) and when it's dark they become inactive. I've actually read of keeping the nesting area warm with a light.