My African sideneck turtle seems sick.

KatiebugLentz

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Hi, I was wondering if anyone on here has gone through what I'm about to mention with their turtle and if you could give me advice. I've had my turtle for 6 years with no health issues. Suddenly a few days ago she started sitting under her basking platform and didn't really get out and move around much. We noticed 3 days ago that there were some egg like things in the tank and my new roommate took one out and got rid of it thinking it was trash but since then she has been even less active. (The things looked like eggs off the internet but pink and broken open). Tonight she didn't eat hardly any food either. Any advice is appreciated!
 

Toddrickfl1

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Constantly basking or sleeping in the basking area can be a sign of an RI. I don't have any experience with this species but @Markw84 can probably give you some advice.
 

Markw84

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It does sound like she has eggs and needs to lay. However, a female in need of nesting is normally quite active and restless, constantly trying to get out of her enclosure to find a suitable place to lay. Was she quite active the past 1-2 weeks?

What type turtle is this? can we get a picture of her enclosure? Is she kept alone? Sometimes they will end up just dropping the eggs as they cannot find a spot to nest. But they also can become egg-bound, so I would encourage you to give her a place to lay. With pictures and knowing the species we could suggest more
 

KatiebugLentz

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Attached is a picture of the egg like thing that suddenly showed up in the tank, the tank setup, and where she had dug several weeks ago and has now spent the last week chilling

IMG_20200523_114134.jpgIMG_20200523_114130.jpgIMG_20200523_114123.jpgIMG_20200523_114108.jpg
 

KatiebugLentz

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It does sound like she has eggs and needs to lay. However, a female in need of nesting is normally quite active and restless, constantly trying to get out of her enclosure to find a suitable place to lay. Was she quite active the past 1-2 weeks?

What type turtle is this? can we get a picture of her enclosure? Is she kept alone? Sometimes they will end up just dropping the eggs as they cannot find a spot to nest. But they also can become egg-bound, so I would encourage you to give her a place to lay. With pictures and knowing the species we could suggest more

She is an African side neck turtle and was really active a week or 2 before she laid the egg like things, but I had just thought it was because we added new plants. She is alone and hasn't been around another turtle for several years so I'm really not sure how she'd be pregnant.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Ok there's your problem I think. That certainly looks like a bad egg to me. You need to make some kind of nest box with some sand/soil that you can put the turtle in. They can lay eggs without a male around they just aren't fertile.
 

KatiebugLentz

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Ok there's your problem I think. That certainly looks like a bad egg to me. You need to make some kind of nest box with some sand/soil that you can put the turtle in. They can lay eggs without a male around they just aren't fertile.
Could you attach some info about how to go about making a nest? To be honest until now we thought my turtle was a guy because the pet store didn't say, so I'm really not knowledgeable at dealing with this.
 

Yvonne G

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Here's what my sister used to do when her RES, Scruffy, told her she needed to lay eggs: Scruffy would start acting frantic to get out. Maggie would take her outside and put her into the box turtle yard. Scruffy would then inspect the yard , find a good spot, dig a hole and lay her eggs.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Could you attach some info about how to go about making a nest? To be honest until now we thought my turtle was a guy because the pet store didn't say, so I'm really not knowledgeable at dealing with this.
I used an old 55 gallon tank but you could also use a large plastic Tote. Fill it up with about a foot of dirt/sand. It needs to be moist enough to hold it's shape when you dig in it but not soaking wet. I used a CHE over it to keep it warm. You could also probably use a basking lamp. I put the turtle in there a few hours a day. It took a few days but mine finally laid some eggs. You might gain some insight from this thread
 

Markw84

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Do you have a secure garden location that is turtle escape proof? That is the best solution and gives her choices of sites to lay eggs. As @Yvonne G mentions using a box turtle enclosure - any secure garden type spot is the easiest. A nesting box like @Toddrickfl1 references can work, but is more difficult to get the turtle to accept at times.

A female turtle or tortoise does not have to have access to a male to lay eggs. They are often prone to develop eggs although will certainly not be fertile. They usually only do this once or maybe twice without male contact.
 

KatiebugLentz

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Do you have a secure garden location that is turtle escape proof? That is the best solution and gives her choices of sites to lay eggs. As @Yvonne G mentions using a box turtle enclosure - any secure garden type spot is the easiest. A nesting box like @Toddrickfl1 references can work, but is more difficult to get the turtle to accept at times.

A female turtle or tortoise does not have to have access to a male to lay eggs. They are often prone to develop eggs although will certainly not be fertile. They usually only do this once or maybe twice without male contact.
I don't have any area but I'm looking into developing one.
 
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