General Care Discussion :: Egg laying?

[kikicool]

Good morning, all! While reading through another post, I saw someone mention that females need to lay eggs whether or not they have a male in the tank. How will I know if Lily wants to lay eggs? Should I have a nesting area set up at all times, just in case? I've had her about 4 months, and she is maybe a little over 4 inches. I'd hate to think she was uncomfortable.

Thanks!

[steve]

She will act restless, maybe have a loss of appetite and may preform kicking motions with her hind legs. You don't need to have a nesting area up all the time, only when she needs it. She'll also need to be an inch or two bigger

[kikicool]

Thanks Steve. Now of course I have more questions. is the behavior very obviously odd? I guess I'm afraid that I somehow won't notice her behavior changes. What would happen if I didn't? Since I've had her, she always scratches at the glass, and hangs out under her basking rock. She also has never had much of an appetite. I used to worry about this, but she seems fine. In fact, lately she's been more active and is finally venturing about the tank.

But I worry that I just won't notice a change, and that she'll be in pain or something. Two more questions: what spurs on egg laying? Is it a monthly cycle for turts, or is it brought on by photoperiod etc.? And how do you tell if the eggs are fertilized or not? I have a male as well.

[steve]

Yes it was obvious something was wrong. She wanted out of the tank and was not her usual begging self either. There is a way to feel for the eggs, but I haven't had luck with it. A simple x-ray from a vet will provide you a definitive answer.

I don't have a lot of info about RES breeding, but a seasonal change is the most important factor IMO. I believe the eggs are fertilized as they pass through the cloaca (I'm not entirely sure if this applies to RES as it does other species of turtles).

Spookster has a good topic from earlier this year, shouldn't be hard to find.

[Pizza]

To manually feel for eggs, pick your turtle up. Have a helper ready to hold for you, or make sure you have a very firm hold with one of your hands, since turtles are strong. Might also want to wear gloves, they scratch bad.

Then try to relax your turtle and get it to stop scratching, and get it to extend its limbs out from its shell. After this, gently take a finger or two and feel the soft skin behind the turtle's rear legs, if you feel a bulge or something, you may have eggs. Don't poke too hard though, you could break the egg, and/or cause pain to your turtle.

I've tried this, but it hasn't worked out, my turtle either won't stop scratching, or won't get out of its shell.

[Spookster]

I don't know if the behavior will be the same for every turtle but when ours was ready to lay eggs she let us know about it. She was acting completely crazy and was desperate to get out of the tank. Once we figured out she was wanting to lay eggs we set up a nesting area outside in our back yard. Don't be surprised if they don't like the nesting area you set up for them. Ours refused to lay eggs in hers. We tried letting her find her own nesting area but that didn't work either. She would either try to run across the neighborhood or just hide in the bushes. In the end she ended up just laying her eggs in the tank unfortunately. They will only do that as a last resort.

[kikicool]

Spookster you are spooky! I was literally JUST reading your thread about your egg laying experience (well, I mean, your turt's egg laying experience!) when you posted this. Also looking at all your pix. BEAUTIFUL set up. I'm up in NY where it is cold so the backyard is out. (um what backyard anyway? ha!) I rarely take them out of the tank--just when I clean it. We have dogs and Lily is quite shy already. She's hardly restless. More like very lazy. I worry because she USED to try to escape when I first got her, I'm wondering if maybe she did need to lay eggs then but... I assume by now, she would have. She was probably just ill at ease for a while...

On your thread, someone asked about how many times a turt will lay eggs during the egg laying season. When is that season?

And is it a guarantee that at some point in a female's life she WILL lay eggs? Thanks for the help, guys!

[Spookster]

Well ours started her egg laying season at the time I posted that thread. She layed eggs one or two at a time over a period of a few months.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Good morning, all! While reading through another post, I saw someone mention that females need to lay eggs whether or not they have a male in the tank. How will I know if Lily wants to lay eggs? Should I have a nesting area set up at all times, just in case? I've had her about 4 months, and she is maybe a little over 4 inches. I'd hate to think she was uncomfortable.

Thanks!

If your turtle starts getting very very VERY frantic and starts diving off her basking area all the time, making lots of noise in the tank or digging with hind legs on her basking dock, let her out in a controlled carpeted area and see what happens. If she picks a spot, and then starts digging, digging, digging, digging, with her hind legs for at least 15 minutes, then you have a turtle that needs to lay eggs.

Many yrs ago, when I had a male in the tank with my Sheba, she used to do this every 6 months. At the time, there was no information available about egg-laying, so I would just let her out in my living room, and she would dig her way under the bean bag in the living room and lay all her eggs...!! I do NOT recommend that you do this though since it is not the real way to handle this. Like I said before, at the time NO INFO was available about turtles egg-laying & I was honestly just doing the best that I could (there were no turtle vets either). I was fortunate enough that Sheba felt comfortable enough with me & the living room bean bag (I let her out all the time to walk around even when she wasn't laying eggs so she could get some exercise outside the tank). She laid eggs about twice a year. Every now and then I would find an egg in the tank as well even though I tried to catch her in time to let her out in the living room. I finally had to give the male turtle away (they were constantly fighting anyway so that's why I gave him away to one of my friends). Sheba continued to lay eggs for about 3 more yrs after the male was gone, and now I am happy to report that she finally stopped & hasn't laid any eggs since. It has been at least 8 yrs she has been egg-free. Thank goodness.

So even though they can lay eggs without a male RES being present, the eggs will be unfertilized (won't hatch).

Honestly, don't worry about her laying eggs until she starts acting like what I mentioned above ("frantically trying to get out of the tank" & "digging with hind legs").

[kikicool]

Thanks, Industrial Girl. I feel MUCH better I MAY tend to be overzealous... about my turts, not religion. But then, maybe they ARE religion...