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A few weeks ago I bought a russian tortoise (large female) from a person that had just begun breeding them here, and then had to sell off all of their stock, she has already layed a clutch of two eggs this season, but 3 days ago, she started digging nests. Now all of a sudden she is very lethargic and not interested in digging, as well as basking and eating. I dug all around her enclosure and could not find a single egg, so I don't think she layed. Plus, I think the soil was not deep enough for her to lay anyways (so right now I tried making a huge dirt mound in her enclosure, which I doubt she will use). I'm worried she might be egg-bound. Can anyone give me some insight? She does have an appointment with a reptile vet on monday to get x-rayed and stuff, but I'm wondering if maybe she's just stressed out and that's why she stopped digging, so I thought I would leave her alone for a day or two. I'm just worried that if she is egg-bound by the time she gets to the vet it might be too late.

Thanks

I had a group of breeding russians, and the females would sometimes do this. After a few seasons of this, I concluded that they were digging trial nests, then they give up for awhile, and then surprise!, they lay some eggs.

But since you are already going to the vet for x-rays, might as well look for eggs.

I've never had an egg-bound tortoise, so I don't know how to tell if that's what's happening. I have had a couple egg bound lizards, and they died, but it happened quickly and was accompanied by a sudden loss of motor function and tremors. Tortoises often go through phases of inactivity, especially if the weather is too hot or cold, so it's hard to say if the slow-down is a problem.

I did have a female that laid a small, heavily-calcified egg that was probably held inside too long. There were no obvious problems associated with that and she appeared fine before and after.

My torts preferred nesting under a clump of grass or beside a buried rock. They usually avoided nesting right out in the open. I, too tried creating a mound of dirt, but they only used it once or twice.

Try giving her a soak. She may be constipated, and soaking is otherwise harmless.

I've just been worried about her getting egg-bound because I'm really new to this. I kind of think that her inactivity probably has something to do with stress (if not everything to do with it) since I've been changing her enclosure around to try to get enough dirt for her to dig in.

I'm trying to see if she'll use a nest box. I put her in it about 30 minutes ago and she hasn't really moved or anything yet, so the jury is still out on that one.

When they dig a trial nest, will they typically put the dirt back afterwards? She dug about 4 trial nests so far, and all but the last one she left open and abandoned. The last one she actually buried again, and I couldn't find any eggs, so I was wondering why she might have done that. Could this possibly mean that she found a nest site she liked, but just was not ready to deposit eggs yet?

>>When they dig a trial nest, will they typically put the dirt back afterwards? She dug about 4 trial nests so far, and all but the last one she left open and abandoned. The last one she actually buried again, and I couldn't find any eggs, so I was wondering why she might have done that. Could this possibly mean that she found a nest site she liked, but just was not ready to deposit eggs yet?

Lots of nests were left unfilled.

Why? I never got my degree in chelonian psychology - so I don't know why :->

How can I tell (without weighing, as I have not yet gotten a good gram scale) if she has laid eggs. Will it be obvious? I would think that the soil would be a slightly different tint where the nest is, since she would be mixing the different layers together when she buries the eggs, but are there any other thing I can look out for? I just don't want to have to dig up her entire enclosure everytime that I think she may have been nesting.

She is eating great and doing well though right now.

What I look for is a build up of dirt on the left and right of the Anal scute on the marginals. I also look for caked dirt under the hind leg nails. This tells me she has nested... finding the nest... good luck bucause that's all you have.

Ed

>>How can I tell (without weighing, as I have not yet gotten a good gram scale) if she has laid eggs. Will it be obvious? I would think that the soil would be a slightly different tint where the nest is, since she would be mixing the different layers together when she buries the eggs, but are there any other thing I can look out for? I just don't want to have to dig up her entire enclosure everytime that I think she may have been nesting.
>>
>>She is eating great and doing well though right now.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Brad is on the mark. Many tortoises and turtles do this and one suggestion is that it is a diversionary tactic. I've come up on 2 painted turtle nests (the turtles were actually nesting) and have photos of both in where there is also a nest(hole obviously dug by the turtle) about 24 inches from the actual nest. I don't know if it is the same turtle but it was a few months apart but it was noticable that the 'exploratary' nest was the same distance from the actual nest.

I've had tortoises dig nests and not deposit eggs but I don't know if my presence or the condition of the captive environment caused them to abandon the nest and not continue to nest.

If the tortoise is active, eating and noticably healthy, egg binding should never be an issue. I'm sure it doese happen in the wild but I'm also sure that is is most likely not very common.

(this issue caught my interest)

>>A few weeks ago I bought a russian tortoise (large female) from a person that had just begun breeding them here, and then had to sell off all of their stock, she has already layed a clutch of two eggs this season, but 3 days ago, she started digging nests. Now all of a sudden she is very lethargic and not interested in digging, as well as basking and eating. I dug all around her enclosure and could not find a single egg, so I don't think she layed. Plus, I think the soil was not deep enough for her to lay anyways (so right now I tried making a huge dirt mound in her enclosure, which I doubt she will use). I'm worried she might be egg-bound. Can anyone give me some insight? She does have an appointment with a reptile vet on monday to get x-rayed and stuff, but I'm wondering if maybe she's just stressed out and that's why she stopped digging, so I thought I would leave her alone for a day or two. I'm just worried that if she is egg-bound by the time she gets to the vet it might be too late.
>>
>>Thanks
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

thanks for your info. A lot of people have told me that if the nest is just right, they will deposit their eggs, but I think that digging 'test-nests' is a natural part of their life (in captivity and in the wild). It just makes sense, because they won't know that the area is perfect for nesting until they try.

Right now she is eating great, basking, eliminating, so I think that she is probably fine. I am going to give her a few more weeks, and if there's still no eggs, I will take her to be x-rayed so that I can see if there ever were any eggs in the first place. For now I'll just leave her alone and allow her to do her thing.