Feeding and Nutrition :: Help Pls: My Houdini

Turtle diets and eating habits discussed here.

Post Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 2:27 am   Help Pls: My Houdini

Hi. I have a red-eared slider named Valentine. I have had Valentine for 14 years - ever since she was regulation small fry size. Valentine has suddenly (this year) started escaping her habitat. I am trying to figure out if there is a good reason for this that needs to be addressed, or if she needs another habitat for a time. Other research I have done about this suggests checking: water temp, basking area temp, water quality, appropriate variety of food. The other thing that has been suggested is that she might be looking for an area to lay eggs.

Her water temp is 79 degrees. Basking area, I forget, but it is warm and she spends quite a bit of time there. She shares her tank with 5 cichlids and an algae eater. She gets a wide variety of foods - various lettuces, collard greens, mustard greens, etc., plus dried crickets & worms, plus cichlid pellets, plus a cuttlebone. Every so often I also get 60-100 small feeder fish. She loves that. Occasionally I put in water plants, but those get eaten pretty quickly. She has a 120-gallon tank with a few resin ornaments. But plenty of room to swim. It is on a constant auto- system that removes some water every day and adds some water every day. We also use a water clarifier every 2 weeks. And we do periodic full tank cleans - but not very often, as the tank mostly maintains itself with the auto-stuff and filtering that is going on. I checked ammonia. It was perfect. We also have a variety of filters and bio balls to help maintain the biome and remove waste.

Currently, we have a 12" topper on her tank that we made to ensure she stays in the tank. I can certainly modify it to make it harder for her to escape (and I plan to). But I am wondering if she needs something that she isn't getting in the tank. Any ideas? Isn't 14 a little old to want to start laying eggs? I can't think of what else it might be. If she does want to lay eggs, then what kind of habitat does she need? I would think being out of water for a long period of time might hurt her? Also, aren't they always supposed to eat in the water?

Jen
User avatar
chrystalheart
 
Posts: 10
Joined: May 3, 2020
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 9:30 am   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

It's not easy to predict when they want to lay eggs, especially if they haven't mated. You can try to feel for eggs, it's pretty easy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY2pRyQgn9o

The tank and diet seem great. Do you have pictures of the tank/topper?
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 8:48 pm   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

Tank and top of tank with new screen to prevent escape


Jen
Attachments
tanktop.jpg
tank.jpg
User avatar
chrystalheart
 
Posts: 10
Joined: May 3, 2020
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 12:40 am   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

Have you tried feeling for the eggs yet?
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 5:53 am   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

I will tomorrow. Today my hands were in many things and I didn't want to risk putting them in the water.
User avatar
chrystalheart
 
Posts: 10
Joined: May 3, 2020
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 10:04 pm   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

I did try feeling around her legs. It was difficult, because she had them pulled up into her body. But feeling around the area around her tail, it did feel like there were some rounded shapes there that were firm to the touch. So just to be on the safe side, I'm putting her in the downstairs bathroom with a bin... it's around 14x10 or so - and I've filled it 4 to 5 inches with a mixture of potting soil and sand. The sand is a little damp, so it should help her build a decent hole if she wants to. I'm planning to put her in there for around 4-5 hours per day. Any suggestions/concerns/etc with that plan? Does she also need a water source? Or is that a short enough length of time not to worry about it? I have 4 dogs, so trying to give her some freedom in a space where I don't have to worry about them aggravating her (or where she has access to things she might try to eat).
User avatar
chrystalheart
 
Posts: 10
Joined: May 3, 2020
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 10:09 pm   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

She took refuge in the bathroom on one of her adventures. It has a couple of places to hide under furniture when she needs that. Also, I only have the one turtle, so any eggs are definitely unfertilized. Question: If she does lay eggs, once she has laid them is she happy to leave them and go back to normal life? I know you can just throw out unfertilized eggs, but want to check first that there is no other nesting behavior that occurs that I need to be aware of. I am doing research, but not all questions are answered. LOL. FWIW, I haven't really noticed much change to her behavior. She cycles with food - eating a lot, then eating little, back and forth. Always has. I haven't seen any digging behavior with her back feet or anything. She doesn't seem unusually anxious either. But maybe I just have a really chill turtle. :-D
User avatar
chrystalheart
 
Posts: 10
Joined: May 3, 2020
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 9:36 am   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

From my experience, weather plays a role as to when they want to lay them. So after a shower or so, they may feel the urge for it. They also typically want to lay them at the same time of day, so you might see a pattern as to when she wants to try. I probably wouldn't try her nesting box until she wants to go. That brings up to where... outside (backyard garden?) will let her pick and choose, and has a much better success rate. A lot of this is instinct driven and it's hard to coerce them otherwise and yes, once she lays them she will go back to normal.
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 2:11 pm   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

She has been escaping at night, so that is when I'm putting her in the bathroom. I live in az. It's over 100 degrees already and the ground is hard as a rock. So, laying in the backyard is probably not going to work
User avatar
chrystalheart
 
Posts: 10
Joined: May 3, 2020
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 5:41 am   Re: Help Pls: My Houdini

Tough situation. I suppose a shaded area wouldn't work either?
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male


Return to Feeding and Nutrition

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests