Urgent Care :: HELP PLEASE

[tsianaaaxo]

well hello to get started i have two red eared sliders one male, and one female. i've had them for about four years and they have been together since birth. i adopted them from a friend when they were about eight months. i have not had any issues with them up until now. im not exactly sure how this happened, but the male turtle seems to have suffered either an attack from the female, or some kind of injury. three of this nails are missing and the side of his shell (right by his neck on the same side as the missing nails) is cracked. it looks to me as if the female might have attacked him. please refer to the picture. i dont know if this injury needs to be treated by a vet or will heal on its own, but either way i do not like this! advice please?!

[tsianaaaxo]

i just found an egg in my tank! i have two res turtles one male and one female. they have been together since birth, however i have not had them since birth. i adopted them when they were about 8 months old. this is the first time this has ever happened and i am going to consult with a vet asap tomorrow morning but i do not know what to do as of now. my turtles bask on a dock and that's it as far as dry land. ( i know that the eggs need to be on dry/warm land ) help/advice on what to do as of now please!?

[tsianaaaxo]

on top of the males injury i just found an egg! like i said i am immediately consulting with a physician tomorrow but i am honestly freaking out!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

You should go to the vet. Thats a pretty good bite wound or at least thats what i think it is. Their probably tell you to dry dock him until its healed. Usually females with eggs become much more agressive. That could of been reason she attacked him

[tsianaaaxo]

yeah after i saw the egg everything began to make sense and come into place. she has been really aggressive and constantly trying to get out of her tank (this has been going on for about 5 days now and she layed the egg in the water last night). she is fairly large with a shell almost 6 inches long and the male is very small about 3 inches. i hope i can provide an adequate nesting area for her considering i only have a 50 gallon aquarium and have to build externally off of that. i am really concerned about the fact that she is gravid and i do not want any kind of egg retention. like i said i have had them for four years and this is the first time i have ever had eggs! this happened unexpectedly so my main concern is providing a sufficient nesting area. if she for some reason chooses not to lay her eggs in the area provided how will i know that she is retaining them? is there a certain amount of time that they should all be layed? as for the male i have him dry docked right now and am about to make some calls to get an appointment asap. thank you for you quick response and any other advice/info i would also appreciate!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Well ist a waiting game. They can hold their eggs for months no problem without laying them. If it goes longer then 4months thats when you take her to the vet and they can induce her into laying eggs by i think giving her a shot of oxytocin. When a vet does this a turtle lays eggs within hours.

[steve]

Did you have the appointment yet? They will need permanent separation and hopefully your male will make a full recovery.

[tsianaaaxo]

yes but the earliest appointment available is thursday. and yes thank you i hope he makes a full recovery too. the female is just so big and powerful. i built a nesting area for her and she's becoming completely out of control. i came home from work and found that she climbed on top of the cover i made to the nesting area. also a few hours ago she snapped at the male again on the same exact spot luckily he backed away.. i immediately separated them i have him in a rubbermaid container until i can get him into another tank. so this means that they will never be able to be together again? they've been together for so long and no problems until now it really breaks my heart that i have to seperate them :/ i going to attach a picture of the nesting area i built. i have a ramp going into the tank so she is constantly tracking the compose/sand into the tank. should it not be connected and should i just place her in the nesting area at different times? any suggestions will help! please and thank you everyone!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Keep it connected if you can. That way she has the option to explore and feels safe in there. Rather then forcing her into an area that she doesnt know which will stress her out. Alot of people usually have no luck with just placing the turtle in a nesting area including me. With the connection of a nesting box thats changes, she will get to know it and leave the stress behind. Ive heard alot of success like with what you did. So goodluck!

[PridgNYC]

What I would do is replace that duct tape ramp that is leading into the soil pit with one of the large floating docks. This way it is more natural, she can bask on the rock-like floating dock, or can venture into the soil area to lay eggs. This also gives a buffer between the soil and water so she tracks less soil into the water. (you might need to add more soil to the level up a bit)