Urgent Care

I have used this site for very helpful information in the past,but I am new to the forum part of it. So I was hoping that someone would be able to help me out. I have a turtle that I found, have had for about a year and a half now. She is full grown I do believe, her tank size is 65 gallon tall. I have had this tank since the day I got her, and just now she climbs on her dock try's to grab onto the top of the tank, of which there is a screen over, and try's to climb. She obviously can't get out so she ends up falling off her dock into the water. Then swims around like a mad man. She is also going up and off of her dock every couple of minutes. It seems as fast as she gets on it she is right back off. This is all very weird behavior she has never done anything like this before. Can someone please help I think there is something seriously wrong.

You say she's fully grown? If so she might be carrying eggs and looking for a place to lay. Usually when a turtle has eggs they will get this way , swimming frantic, trying to escape. Are you able to tell us the temperature of the water and basking areas also?

If you found an adult female wandering around, it's possible she was looking for a place to nest or had just finished so. You can feel for more eggs or have a herp vet take an x-ray of her.

Just an FYI, it's not recommended to take wild turtles unless they are threatened, in undesirable conditions or injured. In some areas, it might even be illegal.

We had a large flood in our city, and I found her after that, she was once someone's pet but she got lost in the flood. I took her to a vet when I found her and had her all checked out and the vet said that they had never seen a turtle in better health, that to me atleast means she was someone's pet that took really good care of her. You say she may be wanting to lay eggs, how long does it take before they do lay eggs, because I have had her for almost 2 years now. Also her water is 71.5 F or 22.4 C. She seems to be ok right now not being as crazy,sort of calm actually, but she has been off an on crazy for about a week.

Does she act crazy around the same time of day? I think they have a preference of when to lay eggs.

How long do they carry the eggs for? When I had her checked out at he vet when I first got her, the vet did say that there was no eggs. She goes crazy it seems at different times of the day each day.

It's possible she just wants out or is begging for food.

I have just noticed right now, I just topped up her water level. She is grabbing onto the screen, not the tank walls. It looks like she is trying to get closer to the light or something. Her water level is kept at around 7 inches from the top of the tank, so she is already close to the light so I don't know why she would want to be closer. When she grabs onto the screen when she let's go she hits the dock. I'm worried this may be causing damage to the bottom of her shell, would it be? So you say she is either begging for food or wants out. Now I feed her once a day, everyday in the morning. Should I feed her more, or at a different time of day? Also, if it is just that she wants out, should intake her out and let her walk around the floor a little bit?

Have tried feeling for eggs before? (Just to rule it out.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY2pRyQgn9o[/youtube]

My turtle is always trying to get out (I have a male). Please make sure she is not successful! I use plexiglass along the sides where I know he can escape from.

Thank you very much for that video, it was very helpful and educational. I used what the video said and I checked for eggs. I didn't feel anything, so I don't believe that there is any eggs there. So that leads me to believe that there is another problem, or maybe not. So we have to figure out what the other problems could be. If she does just want to be let out, should I let her out and walk around the floor for a while? Could there be another problem, now that we know there is no eggs.

It's possible that she's just aggressively trying to beg or get attention. Hopefully the behavior will subside.

Thank you all for your great advice! I hope she is going to calm down, but if not I will keep you all posted. Also, I have another question. Does anyone know how to tell how old she is?

It's very difficult to tell the age of larger turtles. How big was she when you got her?

file:///Users/Chantel/Desktop/photos.php.html
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/phot ... 98&theater
This is a link to a picture of her the day we found her, she has not grown any since we found her.

Urgent Care :: Please help...seems like my turtle is trying escape

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