Urgent Care :: HELP... eggs

[NukeIt2Bdone]

I have liked to keep red eared sliders as pets for the past 10 years. This afternoon I noticed an orange ooze on the dry part of my turtle habitat (only have 2 turtles left, thought they were both females). Then I noticed there were EGGS in the water (which was not entirely clean) with the two turtles. I've never had eggs before. There seemed to be three eggs, one was destroyed, I scooped the other two out of the water and put them in a shoebox. I'm not sure which one laid the eggs, but I think it was Vasquez, the smaller one. I have several questions..

Does this mean one of my remaining turtles is a male? Does there need to be a male to have eggs?
IS SHE GOING TO HAVE MORE??? Three seems pretty low...
Are the eggs bad because they were in the water with the turtles?
If the two eggs are good, how do I take care of them??


Help will be very appreciated.
Thank you

[sonyj]

First off, there are dozens of posts on here regarding eggs. It is a good idea to use the search feature at the top to find the answers to your questions since this is a quicker way than waiting on someone to post.

Second, female RES will lay eggs without a male present upon reaching maturity (just like chickens). They need a special nesting area to do this in. If no nesting area is provided they will try to hold the eggs inside themselves for as long as possible (knowing they should not be laid in the water). If they hold the eggs in too long, the eggs could rupture inside them and lead to infection/death for the female RES.

Female RES traits are short stubby tail with the cloacal opening close to or under the edge of the back shell. The front nails will be short and stubby as well. Male RES have "VERY" long front nails and a longer, thicker tail with the opening away from the shell. (Just so you can be sure what type you have).

Throw the eggs out, if laid in water or without a male present, they aren't viable.

Here's is a good link on setting up a nesting area for your RES: Tortoise Trust Nest Sites

A good nesting area is a necessity to keeping female RES and for their health you need to provide one as soon as possible. Even if they already have released some eggs into the water, they may still be retaining some. You can check by feeling gently around of the hind legs for something that feels like grapes.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[missibsu]

When you say one egg was destroyed...was it cracked? If so, there could be remains of that egg and it's contents inside your turtle. It isn't healthy and could cause death. If that is the case, I would recommend a trip to a herp vet. A list of vets can be found in the stickys at the top of this section.

[NukeIt2Bdone]

I'm afraid shes got more, shes just not laying them

[marisa]

If you think she's got more, then make a nesting area for her. http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm for info on making one.

You can also feel with your index finger the area in front of the hind legs. If she still has a number of them to lay, and they're inside her, they'll feel something like grapes. I'd make a nesting area for her regardless, though.

[Monarch]

If this is the first time you've had eggs, you may want to take her to a vet and have them do an exray. I only say this because I had a female res who started laying eggs (her first) and couldn't pass any after the first one. The eggs were too large for her and she became egg bound. I took her in, and they found 4 more eggs that had to be 'manipulated' out. The vet was amazed at how large they were, but she was able to remove them and with some antibiotics for good measure, she was fine.