General Care Discussion :: Escape??

[BrokenFish]

I have 2 red eared sliders who I raised from babies. They are 9 years old now. They live in a 100 gallon stock tank (rubbermaid horse trough) which has a platform that covers about half the top for them to bask on, which is surrounded by a fence made of hardware cloth.

The last few weeks they have both been desperate to escape the enclosure. I am amazed at how strong they are, they have torn the fence down, they seem to be frantic to escape. I have resecured the fence, adding additional support, but I don't know how long it will be before they figure something out.

It concerns me because it's about a 3 foot drop to the floor, onto linolium. I don't want them to get hurt.

At first it was just one of them, now it's both. This behavior starts at about dawn every morning, and stops sometime in the afternoon. In the evening they bask happily and act totally normal.

I can't figure out what to do to make them happy.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appriciated!

[marisa]

Are they male or female? If they're female, perhaps one or both is gravid (needs to lay eggs).

If you have a female/females, perhaps they need a nesting site. www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm

[BrokenFish]

I had thought of that. I gave them a large tub with sand/soil on their basking shelf, but they totally ignored it. It is about 4 inches deep. I think it should be deeper, but neither turtle has even attempted to dig in it. I know they are able to get into it, but they don't seem interested.

I am somewhat certain that one is male and one is female. It was the one that I think is a girl that began this behavior.

I took the female out of the tank and let her walk around in the living room this morning. I observed the her attempting to dig in the carpet with her back feet. I tried placing her in the tub, but she immediatly climbed out.

Should I put her in a larger tub with soil, that she cannot get out of, or would this be to stressful for her.

Should I take her to a vet?

Thanks!

[steve]

It does sound like she wants to nest. They can be very picky as to where they want to lay their eggs, so I'd try that larger tub. You might want to try it every day, maybe that would help familiarize her with that tub.

You can gently feel for eggs between the carapace and in front of her rear legs. Be very gentle and careful because there is a possibility of breaking the eggs. You could also let a herp vet do an x-ray to positively determine if she is gravid.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Uh oh. Sounds like you've got a turtle that needs to lay eggs. An X-ray at the vet can tell you for sure.

Steve had a good suggestion about the tub of soil. You could also try putting a warm lamp over the soil. Sometimes they like it when the soil is a bit warmer.

[marisa]

The depth of the soil should be at least 3/4 the length of the shell.