Urgent Care :: Gravid Female (Unhealthy!) HELP!!!

[jgreerberube]

Delilah is digging around in her tank and going completely crazy. I know 100% she is female.

Although I was posting on HOW to breed RES, and said I was going to breed her, I DIDN'T! She did not mate, but I know they can still lay "unfertilized" eggs.

Anyway, I need ideas on how I should go about on making her a nesting area, because my yard is full of snakes.

She is running around my room right now. I let her just stroll around, to see if she attempts to "dig." In that case, I will need to make her a nesting area.

Yes, I know, unhealthy turtle. I heard it all: give her to someone with more experience; you're killing the turtle; give her to someone who cares; etc etc etc. I do care. I try. The fact is though, turtle stuff is expensive, and 15 year olds can't get any jobs around here. I save money, and try so hard, but it's hard to make even $10/month. (Really rural area)

I'll post her info in a minute...

[steve]

Have you tried feeling for the eggs? How long has she been doing this?

[jgreerberube]

How big is your turtle? 6 3/4 "
How long have you had it? 3-5 months

What is the water temperature? normal (I sort of know the "feel" of it, when I used a thermometer)
Did you use a thermometer? no
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? little less than half full in 70g tank
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? sometimes (when it starts getting bad, I only have two filters to rotate around 4 tanks)

What is the basking temperature?room temperature
Is there a basking light? sometimes (same as filtration)
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? rocks
Is there a UVB light? sometimes

What have you been trying to feed it? ZooMed turtle sticks
When was the last time your turtle ate? Yesterday (gets fed every second day)

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 70g
Is the tank near a window? yes, but underneath it
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? no

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes, came up with nothing

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? yes, what I explained earlier

[jgreerberube]

Have you tried feeling for the eggs? How long has been doing this?

I tried but I can't get behind her hind legs, she won't let me! So no

Just noticed today, but could have been for a while, because I moved her tank to a room with less (a LOT less) activity, so I don't see her as much (she was in my bedroom).

[steve]

Is she frantic when only you are around? Does it only happen at a certain time in the day? Does she stop if you feed her?

Let her walk around some where dry and hover over her. Wait for her to stop while her leg is extended and try to feel for it then.

Don't just "feel" the water... you will not be as accurate as a thermometer.

[jgreerberube]

I can't hover over her, she freaks out at anything that moves and hides in her shell.

[steve]

Even after a few minutes? Has she always been this skittish?

[jgreerberube]

Yeah, she always has been. Ever since the day I got her, she freaks right out at anything that moves, and when I even touch her (veeery slowly, when she is on the ground), she "jumps" and takes off. But now. . . she's the worst ever. She's become restless. At night I can hear her banging around (her tank isn't even in my bedroom anymore). I know it is her, because every other one of my turtles fall asleep as soon as the lights go out.

[steve]

Aside from being restless, are there any other symptoms? Could another turtle be harassing her?

[jgreerberube]

Fungal infection and retained scutes (working on curing her). She is by herself in a 70g with rock basking area with ReptiGlo 5.0 pointing down at it. Need to replace it, but for now I'm going to be taking her outside for natural sunlight. However, her tank is beside my other turtles' tanks, but I don't think they can see through both panes of glass... But I could be wrong.

[steve]

How bad are her retained scutes?

[jgreerberube]

Here's a picture: http://beneath-the-water.com/2013/08/25 ... ed-scutes/

[jgreerberube]

Oh, and she's not gravid. I watched some videos and figured out that I was feeling for eggs wrong. So I felt, and there's nothing on both sides. But still... you can see how bad of a shape she's in.....

[steve]

I would make sure you try to clean the shell often, especially in those areas of over lapping scutes.