Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 125 gallon aquarium with with what i thought were a trio of adult female Red ears..well recently i've noticed one of the turtles copulating with the others and on closer inspection he seems to be a male(lacking the long front claws)
Question is one of my females has been basking extensively so i felt up under her rear legs and she is definetly gravid.
How can i get her to lay??? so far i have a 50 gallon rubermaid container filled with several inches of potting soil with heater tape under one end. Can i just leave her in there for a few hours a night and hope she digs a nest and lays on her own?
Space constraints wont allow anything more elaborate.
Does anybody have any experience with this...if you do I would REALLY appriciate any help....
Thanx alot.
Tim

Are you posative shes gravid? Females will also "claw flutter". I would say if the "male" is lacking the long front claws then it is not a male unless they all broke off. What about the tail? Does the tail look larger and fatter than the other 2 RES?
Chris
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Hey whats up, I'm Chris and I currently have 0.1 Midland Painted, 1.0 Western Painted, 0.0.1 RES, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

If she is gravid, put her outside. I find the best thing to do is put them outside in later afternoon/early evening and leave them there over night. (assuming she is in a safe, enclosed, predator-free area, that is)
I have seen red ears lay day and night though, in captivity. So a time preferece may come into play.
Do you have a area of loose sady soil ia sunny area?

Actually the box filled with potting soil worked!! I put her in there this morning before work and when i came home and picked her up, she seemed alot lighter and i felt no lumps in her anymore. So i nosed around and found the egg chamber...the big girl laid 17 eggs!
Another question...the soil temp was 96 degrees in the chamber and when i removed the eggs to place them in the incubator the eggs made little noises, I'm assuming it was from the rapid cool down. No cracks or anything....just little pings(best i can describe it sounding like) but now their in the incubator at a nice humid 86 degrees and looking good!
My turtle is definetly a male..his tail is MUCH larger than the rest...but his claws are short??
Thanx for the help...about how long do I have to wait now?

Thats weird. I have never seen a male slider with short nails. Maybe they were trimmed at one time?
Chris
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Hey whats up, I'm Chris and I currently have 0.1 Midland Painted, 1.0 Western Painted, 0.0.1 RES, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

Nope I've had em for years. I have a big cinder block on a slant in the tank for them to bask on and if both females are up there he'll constantly scrabble to get closest to the light...maybe that just wears em down? I'm planning to get a big piece of decorative wood so all three will fit.