General Care Discussion :: Turtle Temper

[Spookster]

Our turtle has been acting psychotic all day like she is pissed off. Last night she figured out a way to escape from her tank but I caught her in the act. She had figured she could stand on the filter spray bar and pull herself up through the small opening in the back behind the glass top where the filter pipes come in. She is too big to fit through the opening (She's a 9 inch RES) but she did have her neck stretched out so her head was above the tank wall. Well after I caught her I moved the spray bar to the side of the tank so she can no longer do that. All day now she has been swimming all over her tank like a crazy turtle and knocking the spray bar loose and heaters and thermometer sensors. Basically being as ornery as she can be.

Do turtles have tempers?

[DanielRES1180]

Depends. Did you prevously drop her? If she just started acting like a psychotic out of nothing probably something else, like the failed escape attempt. She's been knocking things over? Wow ! Sounds like you need a turtle shrink. Lol , sorry, I've always wanted to write that.

[Spookster]

No i've never dropped her. She just started the tantrum after I removed her escape route.

I've since had to remove the spray bar that comes with the XP3 and put the straight nozzle on so she has nothing to stand on now. This is one hell of a temper tantrum.

[sonyj]

Does she have a nesting area that she can access herself? Everything I've read on females say that they will go crazy trying to get out to lay their eggs knowing that they shouldn't be laid in water. How old is she?

[Spookster]

Does she have a nesting area that she can access herself? Everything I've read on females say that they will go crazy trying to get out to lay their eggs knowing that they shouldn't be laid in water. How old is she?

No we don't have a nesting area. I'm not sure on her age but I think about 4-5 years old.

[sonyj]

Try making her a temporary nesting area and place her in it for a little while to see if this helps her. If this is what's wrong, then it looks like you'll need to start building an addition to her home. If you haven't done so already check out Tortoise Trust on building nesting sites.

[steve]

My female RES had a temper today as well. She was frantically swimming back and forth for no apparent reason. She was dry docked last night but she was very hyper. I just let her roam around in an empty room and she seemed calmer when I put her back.

[Spookster]

My female RES had a temper today as well. She was frantically swimming back and forth for no apparent reason. She was dry docked last night but she was very hyper. I just let her roam around in an empty room and she seemed calmer when I put her back.

That's what ours was doing. She would swim frantically back and forth from one end of the tank to the other and from top to bottom for hours at a time. She is usually very calm and swims around leisurely.

[Spookster]

Try making her a temporary nesting area and place her in it for a little while to see if this helps her. If this is what's wrong, then it looks like you'll need to start building an addition to her home. If you haven't done so already check out Tortoise Trust on building nesting sites.

We might try something like that. I might go pick up a large rubbermaid container and put some dirt and sand etc in it put her in there for awhile and give her some privacy. Thanks for the info.

[Pam]

I agree that this definitely sounds like a turtle wanting to lay eggs. She is about the right age for laying also. We have 2 adult females and when they need to lay eggs you can tell just from their behavior. We have to put them outside in an enclosed area where they have access to regular dirt. We tried setting up a 50 gallon rubbermaid stock tank with dirt and sand but they didn't want anything to do with it - just kept trying to climb out. We had to leave ours outside for a better part of the day before they would actually lay their eggs. Sometimes it would take a few days of very restless behavior. Good luck!

[steve]

Pam, did your turtle exhibit any other signs like tail kicking? My female RES is only 3 years old, so I'm not expecting her to lay eggs this season, but I have been looking out for it.

[Pam]

Steve, no they did not do any tail kicking. Just extremely active and trying to get out of their tank or tub they were in at the time. Sometimes they would quit eating also but not every time. Has yours been eating as normal? What size is she? I have heard it depends on size also - not just age - as to when they begin laying eggs. I cannot remember how old ours were when they first laid any eggs. I do know that the first eggs that hatched were from an egg laying of an age of 4 1/2 years. I hope this helps!

[Spookster]

Our turtle is too picky about her food to tell if she has quit eating. She always focuses on one food at a time. She'll eat one food only for awhile until she gets tired of it then won't eat until she finds something else she likes and sticks to that one for awhile. She is around 9 inches. We will try the rubbermaid container first and put her in there partially cover it to give her some privacy so hopefully she does her thing. What do the eggs look like and do they bury them?

[steve]

Appetite is never an issue with my female RES She's about 5.5 inches, but aside from being very hyper, I haven't seen any other changes. Also, this behaviour occurs in the morning.

[marisa]

Females will make digging motions with their hind legs as well as act frantic to try to get out of the tank.

Reading the info on creating a nesting site would be good: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm The nest should be accessible so she can go to it when she feels the need. They can be particular about where/when they lay their eggs.