Pregnant Red Eared Slider Turtle help!!!!

[Ranchu85]

Okay so a couple of months ago around Feb 2007, my two red earred slider turtles started mating. Now the female turtle been acting very antsy. She started trying to climb out of her turtle tank and so I converted a 30 gallon breeder tank to become her nesting quarters with a mixture of sand and soil. Yet she's still not satisfied and have been constantly trying to climb out of that tank too. So I took her out and she's roaming around my apartment. She just walks around and then smells places here and there. I even caught her stopping in the middle of the hallway, staying still and kicking with her back feet as she seems to be shivering. She saw me looking at her and began roaming around again.

I'm not sure why she does not like the nesting tank I made. Do you guys have any suggestions? All the stuff online just discuss about making a nesting tank. I'm thinking I might just tie a long flat rope around her and take her to the park so she can find a place for herself to lay the eggs. Then I would scoop up the eggs and bring it to an incubation tank at home. What do you guys think I should do? I read that if she does not find a place to lay her eggs she might die from retaining the eggs in her body. Gotta help her before that happens! Thanks! BTW, I live in the city and do not have a backyard.

[Bsixxx]

all i have to say is congrats first of all.

second i would just put her back in the 30 and leave the room and barely go in there because they like to be alone.
then after a couple days take her out and put here back in the main tank and then get the eggs and put them in an incubator[spelling]


the only thing i can come up to as to why she doesnt like it in the 30 is because the temo isnt to her liking.

so i would go look it up on the web.


good luck man
:D

[Vicious_Fish]

Hmmmm.....well, first off congratulations on getting your turtles to breed indoors in an aquarium. It's nice to hear that your concerned with your turtles heath and well being. Your female Slider is definently looking for a place to drop her eggs off, thats what all the sniffing is about.

My only experience with water turtle breeding was with a couple of Painted turtles. But I kept them outdoors in a small pond with a place to get out and lay eggs in. I didn't incubate the eggs, I let mother nature take care of that.

What you read it true, if your turtle doesn't lay it's eggs soon, it could retain them and die. I'm not sure of the nest temperature that a female Slider requires to lay her eggs. Do you have a heating pad under one end of the tank? Prehaps your breeding tank is too cold for her likings. I guess you could try your approach and let your Slider find her own place to lay her eggs. Just read up on how to handle the eggs after they are layed.

Good luck with whatever you do. I really hope your turtle makes up her mind soon! Keep us posted.

[Miguel]

G Luck!! Keep us in the loop, please..

[Ranchu85]

hey guys thanks for all the suggestions, i only have a heating lamp and I tried raising the temp in the nesting tank with it. She still doesn't want anything to do with that place, I could hear her trying to get out all day. It could be the substrate, I'm going to try to get some vermiculite today. If this doesn't work I think I'm going to take her to a park or something soon and let nature takes its course. Thanks again ya'll.

[Brooklynella]

I suggest you leave her in the 30 but make sure she has water. If you can't create a semi aquatic environment in the 30, at least put a large, shallow dish of water in there. Leave her be for several days as previously mentioned.
Add some different types of substrate too. Try adding a nice clump of peat moss, and wood mulch (the natural kind-not dyed) and even a clump of grass and leaves. The fact that she was digging in your hallway indicates she is looking for a place to dig but hasn't come up with one she considers suitable. Also, put some kind of shelter in there, like a piece of cork or bark. She may want to get out of the heat and this may also be why she doesn't like the 30.

[CTU2fan]

Another thing you could try is putting some kind of rubbermaid-type box in her regular tank (if it will fit) and fill that with dirt/nesting material. Then she can climb in and lay when she wants to. My female western painted would just dump them in the water whether she had a dry place to lay or not, and I'd never even see it coming until there was an egg in the tank. I actually managed to fish them out in time & hatch them most of the time :)

Good luck with her.

[mjmc]

Did you plan on breeding the turtles? What do you plan to do with the hatchlings, should you be successful? Regardless, here's a great site that describes aspects of keeping sliders and other turtles(http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm). What size tank do you have them in now?

[vicedretard]

good luck i hope you can figure out what she is looking for...nothing else to suggest all my ideas have already been said...keep us posted

[Ranchu85]

Hey CTU2fan, my turtle finally laid some eggs, some of the eggs did not looked so healthy, they were small and the size of mothballs or marbles, but I have a few that is oval and in good shape. Anywho, I was wondering what you do with your eggs to ensure that some of them hatched? Did you bury them? If so how deep did you do it? Thanks again, any advice would be great!

-Ranchu85


Another thing you could try is putting some kind of rubbermaid-type box in her regular tank (if it will fit) and fill that with dirt/nesting material. Then she can climb in and lay when she wants to. My female western painted would just dump them in the water whether she had a dry place to lay or not, and I'd never even see it coming until there was an egg in the tank. I actually managed to fish them out in time & hatch them most of the time :)

Good luck with her.

[DeLgAdO]

Okay so a couple of months ago around Feb 2007, my two red earred slider turtles started mating. Now the female turtle been acting very antsy. She started trying to climb out of her turtle tank and so I converted a 30 gallon breeder tank to become her nesting quarters with a mixture of sand and soil. Yet she's still not satisfied and have been constantly trying to climb out of that tank too. So I took her out and she's roaming around my apartment. She just walks around and then smells places here and there. I even caught her stopping in the middle of the hallway, staying still and kicking with her back feet as she seems to be shivering. She saw me looking at her and began roaming around again.

I'm not sure why she does not like the nesting tank I made. Do you guys have any suggestions? All the stuff online just discuss about making a nesting tank. I'm thinking I might just tie a long flat rope around her and take her to the park so she can find a place for herself to lay the eggs. Then I would scoop up the eggs and bring it to an incubation tank at home. What do you guys think I should do? I read that if she does not find a place to lay her eggs she might die from retaining the eggs in her body. Gotta help her before that happens! Thanks! BTW, I live in the city and do not have a backyard.

have they hibernated before this started happening?