Hi all,
First post here, so hello!
I have a ~3 year old RES (one of two) who is currently egg-bound. She laid two eggs last Saturday (nearly a week ago), and hasn't laid the rest of her clutch. She's been to the vet twice already. X-Rays showed she has four eggs remaining. (The second visit showed the eggs were closer to her pelvis). One egg appears to be "stuck" in her birth canal.
She's been treated with oxytocin twice, given calcium and vitamin injections twice - and at the last visit given a dose of doxycycline (the Vet thought she might have an infection - she is slightly pink near her hind legs). She has been gasping - mouth breathing - for about a week now, and is quite lethargic and unwilling to eat.
I recently moved her to a new environment to try to induce her to lay her clutch: a large tub used for outdoor ponds (I've set it up inside). I have fifteen gallons of water in it, heated to 75 degrees F. I've put a combination of play sand and mulch in there as well, as a shelf where she can bask and hopefully dig. The substrate is about 12 in. deep. I've set her up with a UVB light and a 150 W basking lamp.
When she was picked up from the Vet yesterday, she said that my RES (Sara is her name) had started digging at the Vet's office. She showed no signs of continuing when she got home.
My question is this: Is it advisable to give her another dose of oxytocin? Instead of leaving her at the Vet for 3+ hours after the last dose of oxytocin, would it be best to bring her home to her environment immediately after receiving a dose?
I'd obviously like to avoid the surgical option. So it boils down to this: how much does environment play a role in their willingness to lay their eggs, even after an oxytocin injection?
