Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My adult female RES (maybe about 7 years old) has been behaving a little differently lately, and I wonder if there is something wrong with her, and maybe she is egg bound. She shares a 100 gallon tank with another adult female, and I often see eggs and shells in the tank, but cannot say if it's from one or both. She is demonstrating the following new behavior:

1. She spends more time during the day burrowed in the gravel substrate at the bottom of the tank.
2. She is basking less than usual.
3. BUT, she looks fine, and . . .
4. She still has her voracious appetite.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

None of that would be symptoms of egg binding or readiness to lay. She would most likely being restless and trying to get up on land to find a spot to lay. Also -- appetite generally trails off if they even eat at all when they are full of ripe eggs ready to be laid.

As long as her appetite is good and she is not showing any signs of stress or physical problems I would not worry about it. Most likely your larger female is providing the omellettes!! Not to worry - good recycled protein for them.

Steve

Say, is she doing an odd sort of "shuffling" dance with her hind feet? That's usually when I know that aquatic females are ready to lay.

You can also palpate for eggs by gently inserting a finger into the body cavity between the front of the hind leg and the shell. Hold the turtle up in one hand, and slowly tilt her to the side you are checking. Then try the other side. Usually you can feel something like a small ping-pong ball in there if there are eggs. An x-ray wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Sometimes things go wrong internally with egg-laying, especially if there is no land area for digging. I've had some gravid females that didn't go off of thier food at all.

Also, could it be that the tank is getting too small for two turtles, and she is restless as a result?

Katrina