Other Turtle Discussion

So we come home two months ago and see this little "blob" on the floor. Come to find out it was our Penelope. She escaped from her tank (a good 3 foot drop). Unharmed, we put her back, placed a rock on top to prevent further escapes and let her walk around the house supervised for a few days. Then...

She decides to nudge her turtle dock until it came loose from the sides, flipped it over and used it as a little boat to float to the other side of the tank, where she promptly started to flip open the lid in another attempt to escape.

Next, she shed her skutes ~ first time in 3 years.

She decided to give up on the escape attempts a month ago, but still "dances" every night at 7pm (dinner time) like normal.

Today, I noticed broken eggs shells on the bottom of her tank. Not a large amount, probably the equivalent of 2-3 broken eggs. She lives alone, so fertile eggs are impossible.

Anyway,the questions behind this little tale are: 1) were the escape attempts a mere coincidence, or does gravid behavior go on for a prolonged period? 2) how many eggs should we expect and over what period of time? We want to make sure she doesn't get egg-bound, but also want to give her some time to let nature take its course.

Thanks!

The escape attempts are a good sign of her still being gravid. I know my res she would try and escape and be restless all together, after she laid her eggs the escape attempts stopped and she went back to being calm. As for how long, she can continue holding her eggs for a couple months before finally laying the rest of them. You might get a couple here and there. Usually it is about 10eggs or more depending on the size of the female.

Just to add my 2¢... when my RES was gravid, she wanted to get out of the tank around the same time each morning. She would go into a frantic mode, ignoring me and food, and would try very hard to get out.

@ Steve
When a female starts to act like this, does she NEED to lay her eggs, or will she become sick if she doesn't?

Yes a turtle has to lay its eggs and she will. Only in cases where an egg is abnormal or is held to long and is no longer able lay the eggs it will actually lead to the turtles death.

And to lay her eggs, she needs to have access to sand or wood chips, right?

Are we talking about RES here?

I am, at least

Penelope is a RES. I've had her a few years and this is the first time she ever laid eggs. With that in mind I had no clue and did not set up anything special. All she has is her tank water and a turtle dock.

Hearing that this is not necessarily an overnight event, I feel better ~ I'll just keep on eye on her for now.
Thanks for the input!

Other Turtle Discussion :: How long does a female show signs of being gravid?

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