Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How can i induce egg laying from my female RES without oxytocin injections? I just want her to lay her eggs when she is ready, but i can only offer her a safe and nice spot once every month. The vet said she was gravid and she hasn't laid her eggs yet for 4 months. So any other tips that you pros use would be apreciated. I tried putting her in a rubbermaid box filled half way with 50/50 soil and vermiculite mixture. This has not worked for me for the last 2 years. Please offer me some suggestions.

Jeff

Besides giving her the right accomodations I believe the only way that you can induce egg laying is with pitocin given by the vet.

What do you mean by right accomodations? Is there something wrong with my current setup? I'd rather not inject or do anything unatural to my turtles, so i am trying to do this egg laying thing a better normal way somehow. This is my reason for the posting. Hope this clarifies any misunderstandings.

Jeff

no, no, no! I'm not trying to say that you don't have the right accomodations at all. I'm saying that I don't know what else you could do but supply the soil and vermiculite that you already are providing. I've heard that you may have to induce with pitocin if the turtle doesn't lay so that it doesn't get egg bound. I didn't mean to offend you at all.

I wasn't offended , thanks for the help though.

I had a "beach" area in my pond for what I thought would be a good place to lay eggs. My two would injure themselves to get out of the pond to go lay in the yard, so they obviously didn't like it much. It was just sand and didn't offer the support they need to dig the perfect nest. I put a layer of regular old dirt on top of the sand and wet it down so that it would firm up. Within two hours one of the red ears laid a clutch of eggs in the new area. It only took me 5 years to figure that one out!

Thanks for saving me 5 years , its appreciated.

Jeff -- You need to provide her a land area that she can crawl on to of her own free will to lay those eggs. Putting her into a container with the correct substrate in it may not have the desired result because you are putting her there against her will. This is most likely why she has retained her eggs.

She needs to crawl out onto the laying area and choose where she wants to deposit her eggs by herself.

Yes, i totally agree, but i have no area for her to crawl out in. You see, she lives indoors with me and i have no yard. My entire area is very dry, so i dont think she would like the soil anyways. Thanks for your help, i will try to find womewhere else where she might enjoy better, like near an actual lake.

Jeff