Female digging indoors

[reptileszz]

Hi all, I have had Cocoa since she was a hatchling in 1996. I have never seen/heard her trying to dig before today... Eggs? I hope not. She had egg laying issues some 6-7 years ago and had to have them "removed" by a vet. The removal is a long story... anyway, she WAS with a male up until he passed away from unknown causes this past summer (no necropsy done). Since the aforementioned egg laying difficulty she has not laid any eggs. I do not hibernate her and she is indoors in CT in a tortoise table sort of setup with hay and aspen as bedding. She is currently digging away in there and doesnt seem to want to eat today. She is of good weight and I she has been eating ok. (OK for the winter, not as much as when she is outdoors in the summer).

I want to provide her with a laybox I think. Any thoughts on what to use?

Thanks!
Carole

 

[bettinge]

Rubbermaid bin (or whatever to hold dirt indoors) with 6-8 inches of moist soil and a lamp over it!

 

[reptileszz]

Awesome, thanks. I have a rubbermaid that I use for the dragons when they have infertile eggs these days. Even has a hole in the side covered with duct tape. Will work perfectly!

Thanks again,
Carole

www.reptilecare.com

Rubbermaid bin (or whatever to hold dirt indoors) with 6-8 inches of moist soil and a lamp over it!

 

[GBtortoises]

Don't discount the eggs as being infertile either. Just because she may not have been recently bred, does not mean that she may not produce fertile eggs. If there was any breeding when she was in contact with the male the eggs could be fertile.

 

[-ryan-]

Be prepared to retrofit the enclosure. Some tortoises will lay in a nesting box with a heat lamp, but I realized quickly that my females would not settle for that. The first eggs I got from my big female russian were a surprise and she was only on about 3" of dirt. She kept digging under the heat lamp for about a month. I tried piling up dirt under the heat lamp, tried taking her out and putting her in a nest box (with 10" of dirt and a heat lamp), and I even tried rigging up a nest box within the enclosure under the heat lamp. She refused to lay in any of those, so eventually I broke down and bought a new enclosure for them (a cattle trough), put about 10" of dirt in it (now compacted to about 8") and set up their heat lamps. She laid the eggs in less than 24 hours.

If she keeps digging she needs to get rid of the eggs, so make sure she has a good nesting site.

 

[reptileszz]

Hi, she hates tne nice nest box I made AND it has a lip she doesnt want to step over. I am going to wait a day or two and then most likely take everything out of the enclosure, install a tarp and then put in soil for the substrate all over. It will be more like "outside" then.

Be prepared to retrofit the enclosure. Some tortoises will lay in a nesting box with a heat lamp, but I realized quickly that my females would not settle for that. The first eggs I got from my big female russian were a surprise and she was only on about 3" of dirt. She kept digging under the heat lamp for about a month. I tried piling up dirt under the heat lamp, tried taking her out and putting her in a nest box (with 10" of dirt and a heat lamp), and I even tried rigging up a nest box within the enclosure under the heat lamp. She refused to lay in any of those, so eventually I broke down and bought a new enclosure for them (a cattle trough), put about 10" of dirt in it (now compacted to about 8") and set up their heat lamps. She laid the eggs in less than 24 hours.

If she keeps digging she needs to get rid of the eggs, so make sure she has a good nesting site.

 

[egyptiandan]

When she had the issue with laying, did the vet remove the uterus or just stitch it up? If he/she stitched it I'd be worried about it tearing with her pushing. If he removed it, well thats not good as he should have removed the ovaries too.
I would get her x-rayed to see what exactly is going on and where the eggs are if she does have eggs.

Danny

 

[reptileszz]

Hi, the vet "helped" her lay the eggs. She was xrayed and had bloodwork done. 4 eggs showed up on xray. He gave her oxytocin. They wouldnt fit out so he broke each one as it came out and she got rid of them all that way. I assume she was too small to be producing eggs at that point. So she is still intact but hasnt produced anything since then. It was 2001 when this occurred. She hasnt really gotten any bigger, maybe half an inch since then so I fear if she produces eggs again bad things will happen. And my vet isnt vetting for the public anymore, unfortunately and I have yet to find another one suitable in CT or Mass.

AND, she is avoiding the nest box still but also not digging anymore... I am going to redo the cage today I think.

Carole

 

[t_mclellan]

I'm not sure exactly where you are located, But if you are in extreme western Mass. or Conn. you might try,
DVM. Bill McCord at the "Fishkill animal hospital" He's most likely the best Turtle & Tortoise Vet. in the area.

 

[reptileszz]

Fishkill is pretty far from here, (Hartford, CT). Has anyone used Dr. Laurie Hess who I have heard of but no first hand experience. She is pretty far too in Westchester County, NY but closer than Fishkill. I used to drive 1.25 hours to see Dr. Charlie Innis in Westboro, MA but alas he is gone now.

Thanks,
Carole

PS Cocoa was digging with her front feet, not the back. Does that mean anything? She has ceased digging in the temporary soil filled enclosure she is in now of course.

I'm not sure exactly where you are located, But if you are in extreme western Mass. or Conn. you might try,
DVM. Bill McCord at the "Fishkill animal hospital" He's most likely the best Turtle & Tortoise Vet. in the area.

 

[GBtortoises]

Digging with her front feet can mean a few things. Female Hermann's (and other species) will often scrape some of the dirt away of a potential nest site a few days or hours before egg laying. This action may serve as a means for them to remove some of the top layer of soil in order to get a better idea of the nesting locations heat and humidity retention. If the site is suitable within a few hours to a few days a female may nest there.

They will also often scrape away and dig the top layer of soil in order to get at food. Most commonly outdoors when there are fresh plant shoots to be had just below the surface.

Another reason for digging with their front feet is to dig out a shallow "scrape" or pallet, basically a resting area. Although this is more often done under a covered area such as a bush or grass hussock and not out in the open. Occasionally I have seen some of my own female Eastern Hermann's, one in particular that will come out in a rainstorm and dig a shallow depression big enough to fit her body in and sit in the water that pools up in it. I've never figured out why she does that. It's not a lack of drinking water and she does not have external parasites to get rid of. Sometimes they just exhibit curious behavior.

 

[reptileszz]

She was doing the front foot digging under a hide in her normal enclosure. She might have dug a bit in the new one under the hide. I have certainly seen her laying in a homemade hole outdoors usually under a bush. I just never really saw how she did it.

Thanks!
Carole

Digging with her front feet can mean a few things. Female Hermann's (and other species) will often scrape some of the dirt away of a potential nest site a few days or hours before egg laying. This action may serve as a means for them to remove some of the top layer of soil in order to get a better idea of the nesting locations heat and humidity retention. If the site is suitable within a few hours to a few days a female may nest there.

They will also often scrape away and dig the top layer of soil in order to get at food. Most commonly outdoors when there are fresh plant shoots to be had just below the surface.

Another reason for digging with their front feet is to dig out a shallow "scrape" or pallet, basically a resting area. Although this is more often done under a covered area such as a bush or grass hussock and not out in the open. Occasionally I have seen some of my own female Eastern Hermann's, one in particular that will come out in a rainstorm and dig a shallow depression big enough to fit her body in and sit in the water that pools up in it. I've never figured out why she does that. It's not a lack of drinking water and she does not have external parasites to get rid of. Sometimes they just exhibit curious behavior.