General Care Discussion :: nesting and eggs

[jeggy]

ok. i belive i have a female res. she is about 4-4 1/2 inches long. i dont know how old she is. she was adopted.
she is showing some sings of egg laying. the site tortise trust said that she wouls be very active and will be clawing at the sides of the rank and flapping her hind legs as to dig. my turtle is doing this. also when i take her out of the tank and put her on the floor, she crawls all over the place. she goes almost everywhere. she usually heads west.
is she ready to lay eggs? i havnt found anything about how often a female res will lay eggs once she starts. once a year? will she use the same nesting spot more than once? would i have to change the nesting spot once she lays her eggs so that she will think that it's a different place for her next egg laying? if she isnt ready for nesting yet should i just build her nesting spot now and for the time being it can double as her baskingarea?

[sonyj]

Typically females take longer to mature, reaching maturity when they are 5 to 7 years old and 6 to 7.5 inches long. She wouldn't lay eggs until then. And the only reference I've found on how many times she'd lay eggs is 1-3 clutches a season and the source referred to the summer months as the time of year most likely to lay eggs.

I do know they are very picky about their nesting area, but other than that I can't help you with any of your other questions, though. Sorry, I'm sure someone else knows.

[sonyj]

I just thought of something else... in my post above I mentioned that they generally lay their eggs in the summer months, according to what I've read. I believe this is referring to RES in the natural environment. So if you think about our domestic ones, they'd probably lay eggs at any time rather than just summer since we keep their habitat at a constant temp year round rather than in nature with the seasons changing. (if any of that makes sense )

[LadyRachelLynn]

One of my males digs at the glass incesently (sp). The one that doesn't dig is always investigating his tank. I have concluded I have very curious turtles. Maybe that's what yours is. Very curious! Maybe she read somewhere, go west young man and is trying to find that young man! LOL. Sorry if that goes over your head. Showing my age here.

[cam722]

Usually the "digging" at the glass is to try and get attention for FOOD!!! This is what we consider begging. Turtles are experts at it.

Both my turtles use their hind legs to push and move rocks around and to move other objects in their tank including their heater. I have one male and one female and as I said they both do it so it's not necessarily a sign of wanting to lay eggs.

[jeggy]

Usually the "digging" at the glass is to try and get attention for FOOD!!! This is what we consider begging. Turtles are experts at it.

Both my turtles use their hind legs to push and move rocks around and to move other objects in their tank including their heater. I have one male and one female and as I said they both do it so it's not necessarily a sign of wanting to lay eggs.

yes i know that it is their way of begging. mine does it to me when i go to feed her. but only recently she started doing it at the other side of the tank. the side that faces the wall. she also does it when im not around. i know because the sand in the tank is shallow near the glass and piled up at the center. evidence that she is pushing the sand away from the glass and to the middle. and her digging at the glass (not begging at me) is also more frantic then when she does beg from me.