Hello, first off please let me know if theirs another place I'm suppost to be posting and I can re-post there. I've had my female red eared slider since I was very young and I'll admit it was defiantly a buy just because I wanted a cool turtle, I had no idea what I was in for lmao. I LOVE this turtle so much though now and have put a lot of work into keeping her as healthy as possible, shes currently in a 200 gallon aquarium with a sump and a nice large basking spot I built myself and has had zero health issues. I know it can be looked down on keeping aquatic turtles in aquariums, and trust me I've tried other methods but I really think she is just used to aquariums and feels most comfortable in them. OK but on to the problem I've had recently, I do not have anyway to get an eggbox / laying area ontop of the aquarium. And this is one place I've been ignorant with in her care, I have only once tried the egg box method (moving her into a tub with dirt/sand when I thought she was gravid) and I have never been able to get that to work, and the way its been for years is that she just lays her eggs in the water, weird thing is though I've only ever found a couple eggs in the water once. So my question is, is it normal for a female RES that has never been with any male turtles to lay eggs so infrequently, and what are some good strategies to make a successful egg box so that I don't need to worry about impaction? I'm asking now because I think she is showing signs that she is gravid and I want to try the eggbox method again, it is not possible for me to move her to a pond or something along those lines.
11 yr old RES egg questions
- Thread starter Vested
- Start date
Yes, it's quite normal. Most female turtles and tortoises that have never been with a male don't lay eggs, but some do. You don't need to provide a nesting site.
My sister up in Oregon used to have her RES in a large bin out on her back porch. When my sister would notice that Scruffy was particularly active, trying to climb out, etc. she'd take the turtle out into the box turtle enclosure and let her look around in the dirt for a nice place to lay eggs. Scruffy would dig a hole, lay her eggs, them my sister would put her back into the bin on the porch. This didn't happen very often, but often enough that my sister was able to recognize what the tortoise was saying.
So, it might be easier for you to put up some sort of temporary fence outside and let the turtle find her own place to nest rather than making a nesting area near the aquarium.
My sister up in Oregon used to have her RES in a large bin out on her back porch. When my sister would notice that Scruffy was particularly active, trying to climb out, etc. she'd take the turtle out into the box turtle enclosure and let her look around in the dirt for a nice place to lay eggs. Scruffy would dig a hole, lay her eggs, them my sister would put her back into the bin on the porch. This didn't happen very often, but often enough that my sister was able to recognize what the tortoise was saying.
So, it might be easier for you to put up some sort of temporary fence outside and let the turtle find her own place to nest rather than making a nesting area near the aquarium.
I went thru this a couple months ago. I used a 55 gallon tank as a nest area. Maybe there's something in here that might give you some ideas
tortoiseforum.org
2 1/2 yr old slider, eggs?
Anyone know how old do sliders have to be til they're mature? I have a female that hatched February 2016, she's about 8". For a few days she's frantically trying to get out of the pond and shows no interest in food. She's been getting out on the basking rock and kicking her back legs almost like...
tortoiseforum.org
Thank you so much for the reply, glad to hear that! I think ill try and use an old 75 gallon as @Toddrickfl1 recommended and see how that goes. If it doesn't work I'm not gonna worry about it too much.
Just looked through that thread, what times during the day did you put her the dirt area? Think ill try the sameI went thru this a couple months ago. I used a 55 gallon tank as a nest area. Maybe there's something in here that might give you some ideas
2 1/2 yr old slider, eggs?
Anyone know how old do sliders have to be til they're mature? I have a female that hatched February 2016, she's about 8". For a few days she's frantically trying to get out of the pond and shows no interest in food. She's been getting out on the basking rock and kicking her back legs almost like...
I tried all day, for a couple days actually. The couple times she dug a nest and when she actually layed them was in the evening everytime, 5-6ish.
