Spring, Eggs, RES????

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DAC8671

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WIth all the pictures and talk of new eggs already this spring (and today is the 1st day of spring!), I have a question about my res. We've had her since about Aug of last year. I have her in a 75 gallon tank, filled with about 60 gallons of water. She has a floating basking area. It's not completely dry, but it gets her out of the water.

My questions are: Do I need to have a completely dry area for her? Does she need to dig? I've heard that some females will lay eggs even if they've not been around a male. What do I need to do, if anything?

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TKCARDANDCOIN

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I made a dry area for my females and they laid the eggs in the water!I was lucky enough to find them in time and pull them out of the water.A few of them actually hatched.
 

Itort

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In the wild RES nest above the normal flood level. I find nests above maximum flood level in the Mississippi bottoms in relitively open areas in sandy humis type soil.
 

Yvonne G

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Chances are pretty good that your lone female RES won't lay any eggs. My sister raised up a female RES from about a year old. She never laid any eggs in all the time she had her. Then I asked her to take in a dog chewed RES that happened to be a male. She did, and ever since then (the male has been gone now for about 6 years) Scruffy wants to nest a couple times a year. Maggie will notice that Scruffie is scrambling at the side of the tank frantic to get out. So she takes her outside and puts her in the box turtle pen. Scruffie usually gets right down to business and digs, lays and burys. Maggie puts her back then crushes the eggs. They aren't fertile after all this time, but she lays every year anyway. Since your female hasn't been with a male, don't worry about it. You will notice a change in her demeanor if she wants to nest.

Yvonne
 

DAC8671

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Thanks. I don't know if she was ever housed with a male, probably not judging by the conditions in which I resued her from. She was in a SMALL rubbermaid tub...about 18 inches long, 10 inches deep, and about 12 inches tall. There was only about 2 inches of water in the tub. No rocks, no heat, no nothing. They kept her on the back patio in that tub.

I just wanted to know if I should be looking for anything with her. Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Yeah Yvonne has it right on. She starts scrambling at the side of the tank, lots of splashing it's really obvious. Then I put her in the box turtle pen and she starts to dig right away. I sit down and watch her, it is absolutely fasinating and Scruffie trusts me so much she starts digging right away and it takes about an hour then she starts poopin out the eggs she slowly drops the egg into her back foot and she delicately places it down and pats it into place. I think it was last month she decided she needed to nest and it's frozen outside so I put nesting materials in a 150 gallon aquarium and put Scruffie in the tank and she started digging right away. 9 eggs. The whole nesting thing is fastenating to watch. Scruffie trusts me so much that she doesn't mind me watching. It's really cool.
Most turtles want to nest in private...
 

Oogie

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My questions are: Do I need to have a completely dry area for her? Does she need to dig? I've heard that some females will lay eggs even if they've not been around a male. What do I need to do, if anything?

1). yes, she needs to be able to completely get out of the water to dry off...if not, she risks developing shell rot which can take forever to heal

2.) she only needs to dig when she is laying eggs

3.) yes...a RES can lay eggs without ever being around a male (more often than not)! if she shows signs of wanting to nest (it varies by turt, but...stops eating for a few weeks, keeps trying to get out of the tank, digging motions with her hind legs, etc), you need to provide her with a land area to lay the eggs (let her roam an enclosed yard completely supervised, or create a nesting box...i use a 30gal rubbermaid filled with 50/50 of sand/soil mixture--10" deep--which needs to only be moist enough that when she digs the sand doesn't collapse on itself). if a turt is forced to lay eggs in the water, it is very stressful to them and often times they can become egg-bound which will lead to death if not treated by a vet. in my experience, RES's lay eggs as often as never to MONTHLY (and each year can be different)!! ...best be mentally prepared, IMO.

i would just plan in advance what you will use if she shows signs of wanting to nest...no need to have the set-up now. but don't be surprised if she's picky...i went through 4 homemade options before discovering the right fit for one of mine.

what is your turt's shell length?
 
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