Hello all, this is an update to an post a couple days ago that got no replies. Please respond if you have any ideas.

Last Wednesday went to feed the torts and found an EGG in the enclosure!!! I have a 7 year old, 24 pound female and an 8 pound, 3 year old male.

I have a large indoor enclosure with a plywood floor. About a year ago I added a 4'x4' dirt filled addition so that she could dig if needed. She is in it all the time, but it is very difficult to keep any moisture in it because it dries out so fast and when I water it the surface hardens like a giant dirt clod. I wanted to provide a place for her to lay eggs, but this does not seem to be working.

Anyway, my panic is that this is the first egg she has ever produced and she dropped it on the plywood floor of the enclosure, not in the dirt. I checked the dirt carefully and there are no other eggs that I can find. I would imagine that she needs to lay more.

I now have an incubator for the one egg so I am good there. The problem is that it has been 5 days now and she continues to exhibit behavior of wanting to lay more eggs. She has left large wet spots, drinks a lot, and is occasionally trying to dig with her back legs on the plywood floor. She goes in the dirt area all the time but does not dig there.

Things I have tried - I have walled off the dirt area so that she cannot leave that area. I have added a lot more sand to that area so that it is softer and not so compact. I added a heat lamp to that area as well. I know they can be very picky about where they lay eggs BUT IF THAT IS THE CASE WHY IS SHE TRYING TO DIG THROUGH THE PLYWOOD? Obviously the plywood floor is not "soft enough" or "the right moisture", but it might be the right temp.

Worst case scenario, if i bring her to the vet and she has eggs, what will they do about it? Can he get them out?

PLEASE HELP, Thanks,

Ben

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