Urgent Care :: Red Eared Slider Turtle laid an Egg, need help.

[Dakumian]

How big is your turtle? Adult
How long have you had it? --

What is the water temperature? --
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? alot
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? --
Is there a basking light? some sort of warming light
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? kinda
What kind is it or what is it made out of? a slab of concrete
Is there a UVB light? no

What have you been trying to feed it? turtle food lmao
When was the last time your turtle ate? daily

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 8 feet long by 5 feet? 3 1/2 feet deep
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? yes

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? no

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?


Hello, I work at kent ( its like home depot ) and we have a large pong that we have three turtles in it and have some fishys, one of them laid an egg in the pond ( not on the sandy part of it ) and was wondering what to do with it? I put it under some sand about an inch under the sand and below the heater which is about a foot away and off to the side a bit, i read up on some of the things to do and was wonder if we need to redo it so that the turtles have more room, mind you there isn't much space ( I didn't build this pond and when it was built there was no plan to have turtles in there, should I wait for her to hopefully lay the rest of the eggs then make a bigger area around it, or do it asap? I know this isn't really detailed but I'll be adding more info and hopefully a picture. oh and what we think is the male turtle has his scales loosing color, they where dark shelled and now near his head is alot light, was wondering if that is natural or something I should get checked up on? Thanks in advance.

[marisa]

Welcome to the forum.

The egg that was laid in the water can be thrown away, especially if was in the water for any length of time and/or the position of the egg was changed at all. It most likely isn't viable. Eggs are laid on land in nests that females dig in the ground. Only if they have no other choice do they lay their eggs in the water.

Where there is one egg, there is likely to be more coming. The turtles really need a nesting area, so, yes, redoing their space would be an excellent idea. www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm will tell you why one should be made and how to do it.

Who put the turtles in the pond and why? Since the pond wasn't built with the intention of having turtles and doesn't sound like the best place for them, if they don't belong to the store owners or someone in a similar position, would it be possible to start looking for a home/homes for them? They may be a customer draw now, but what's going to happen when summer is over? (I don't know where you are, but if ponds are seasonal where you are, at some point they're going to have to go somewhere.) They also might be giving pond owners not knowledgable about turtles the wrong impression about how "easy" they are to care for.

Regarding the scute issue---can you post a pic of the turtle when he's dry? The lightened area could just be scutes that are getting ready to shed, but a pic of the dry shell would be good just to make sure.

[Dakumian]

Yeah.. well its in a green house which is attached to our main store, they have been there for awhile and everyone seems to think they are fine, but I like to read up on those things, and how they are living isn't great at all. I'll talk to the store manager and tell them either to fix the pond or give them away with a good home for them, thank guys. i'll see about that picture