General Care Discussion :: Turtle Temper

[Spookster]

Creating a nesting area in or on the tank for a 9 inch turtle is out of the question. I don't think letting her run loose in the back yard is a good idea either. Our only option would be to either get a large rubbermaid container or maybe one of those plastic baby wading pools. We'll put some sand and dirt in there and maybe put some shrubs and stuff in there to make it more natural looking.

How deep does the sand/dirt need to be?

[Spookster]

Of course we might be able to create a small fenced in area around some of the bushes in the back yard. I suppose all we would need is some stakes and some sort of fencing material to wrap around the stakes. Hmmm.

[steve]

Well, guess what? After 3 days of this behavior and finally a sunny day in NY, I had a chance to let my RES out. I've had a nesting area picked out since last year and today she showed no interest in it. Then I took her to our old garden in the back and she made a nest! She laid 4 eggs, 2 the size of peanut m&m's and 2 the size of grapes. I'll post pics in the photo gallery

typo fixed

[Spookster]

Well, guess what? After 3 days of this behavior and finally a sunny day in NY, I had a chance to let my RES out. I've had a nesting area picked out since last year and today she showed no interest in it. Then I took her to old garden in the back and she made a nest! She laid 4 eggs, 2 the size of peanut m&m's and 2 the size of grapes. I'll post pics in the photo gallery

How long did it take her to lay the eggs after you put her in the garden? We are putting together a small fenced in area and are going to put our RES in their tonight for a few hours and see if she will lay eggs. I thought I read they lay more eggs than that?

[steve]

Total time was about 4 hours. I have the sunburn to show for it.

The numbers of eggs will vary, and I believe the younger / smaller the turtle, then the fewer eggs.

[Spookster]

How long from the time you put her in the garden did she start digging her nest?

[steve]

Within 5 minutes she found her spot.

[Spookster]

Wow okay that should help us then. We left ours in for a few hours and nothing so I guess we'll try again tomorrow and then start trying new spots until we find one she likes.

[Pam]

Steve - How exciting! I am glad she laid her eggs. Spookster - Let us know what happens tomorrow. My turtles have sometimes taken several days of pacing around the enclosed area out back before finally laying eggs. Other times it is just a few hours - never right away. You were lucky Steve! Our one larger female res hasn't laid any eggs in over a year but the smaller one did last year so I guess frequency of laying them can vary also. Some years they both laid a couple of nests. So far we have only had one batch hatch with 4 babies and a preemie that only lived 5 weeks (very sad). We also had one other little turtle we found in our back yard last May when we didn't even think we had any eggs out there. It is so exciting to watch them being born. I am going to try and get my husband to get some short video clips we can post.

[hannah.26]

How do the eggs get fertalized?

[sonyj]

Ummm... do you have kids? It would happen the same way we humans get kids except with turtles it's eggs that will hatch not babies that will be born.

[steve]

Thanks Pam. I guess I'm too optimistic that she will be easy when it comes to nesting.

[Spookster]

Well we have been trying for the past few days to see if she would lay some eggs. Nothing yet. We tried creating a turtle pen outside with sand and dirt and put a pile of leaves for her to dig in. She went digging and buried herself for several hours but didn't lay any eggs. Do they bury themselves when laying eggs?

[steve]

They wouldn't bury themselves. How big is the turtle pen and is she still displaying the "temper"? Have you tried feeling for the eggs (which is something I forgot to do)?

Here's how to (from an earlier Marisa post): Gently place your index finger inside the area in front of the hind legs and feel something that feels like grapes, that will be the eggs. Be careful not to rupture them.

[Spookster]

The pen is around 2x2ft. We tried letting her run around loose in the back yard also but she didn't attempt to find a nest. We haven't tried feeling for eggs. And she hasn't displayed any more of that behavior either since we let her outside in her pen. Could it have just been a temper tantrum maybe?