Urgent Care :: Need advice asap!!!...

[Adam]

Hi All

Adam here... i have a 3.5 yr old female RES (Jade)... recently i had to go out of town for 3 days to visit my brother... so cudnt leave my Jade home alone so took her with me... its just a 3 hr drive... well.. my brother has a 4 yr old male RES... during my 3 days stay there i once noticed that both the RES's were mating... it just happened once while we were there ( but the male RES was trying since we got there to hook up with her n she kept on ignoring i guess she was enjoying being in the garden n sun and water more )... and we came back... its been 3 weeks now and Jade is getting very restless... she tries to climb out of the tank... noticed she make digging motions with her hind legs... if u leave her down she tries to find someting im not sure wat... she tries to get into all corners n holes arnd the house... she also comes to me and i feel she is askin me somethin, like she looks at me, raises her head n her front legs n asks me somethin.... i really cant figure out wat... so i did read abt mating in the website and its been 3 weeks now so i made a nest for her incase she is lookin to lay eggs... i took a big plastic tub, filled with sand and decorated it with li'll plants n stones... its just a 1.5 ft by 2.5 ft tub... i live in a apartment and dont have the privilege of a garden... anyways i tried making her go into the tub... she goes in n comes back... only once she did try to dig somethin but just for few seconds n she lost interest... sooo im not sure what to expect next and how to go abt it... she has been very restless from couple of days... need advice asap...

PS : she doesnt have the privilege of going in and out of the tank whenever she wants coz the tank is on a stand and at 2.5ft height... so someone has to leave her out and then leave her back in...

[steve]

Hey Adam, female RES are sometimes notoriously picky about where they want to nest. I would keep the tub without the extra decorations and make sure the dirt is deep enough. When she wants to nest might be around the same time of day, so observe when that time comes around and put her into that tub when she starts acting up.

[Adam]

Thanks Steve... will remove the extra things in the tub... also will see if i can get a bigger tub... the one i have now is as deep as the turtle is... which is arnd 6 + inches... i guess the tub should be twice as deep as the turtle right?...
I am not able to figure out wat time of the day she wants to lay eggs... she has been restless through out the day... and trust me she comes and asks me something couple of times a day, which i really cant figure out wat it is, and it sucks that i cant understand it...
anyways will keep a watch n try to get her a bigger tub... if there is any other suggestions or tips plz let me know... or if there could be any other reason for her restlessness....

PS : Also i have noticed... It is summer here and temp is arnd 20 degrees C to 33 or 34 max... her usual sleeping place is under the bean bag,,,, thats her favourite place... but from past 1 week i have noticed that she is not so comfy under the bean bag... instead she comes and stays under my cot in the room where the fan is on.... Does Summer also makes RES's little restless???

[steve]

It doesn't need to be twice as deep, but as long as the turtle with her legs stretched out. It's unusual to have the turtle roam around your house everyday, it's normally best to not handle them too much. So I can't really comment on what's happening with that situation but they do prefer dark areas when the sleep.

[richieboy]

lol How often does your turtle stay out of the tank? She usually sleeps out? I just wondering.

[Adam]

ya.. she never used to roam around the house so much... except from last 2 weeks... and this was 2-3 weeks after her mating...
she is still not goin into teh nest i made... she is still restless almost all the time of the day... except she sleeps now n then... just tries to find corners or holes and keeps making the digging motions with her hind legs all the time... so i donno wat to do anymore...
Also trying to get her a bigger tank n make provision for her to go in n out by herself... but that cud take sometime...

@richieboy... the turtle kinda stays out half the time of the day... earlier she used to sleep in the tank itself... but she has been sleeping outside the tank from quite sometime, like almost a year... she likes it under the beanbag... but now from past 2 weeks she doesnt wanna go there... i was thinkin maybe its the heat... its summer here...

[richieboy]

Who knows what goes on in there mind. I have never heard of a setup that the turtle can come and go as it pleases. Sounds very interesting. I wonder how often the turtle would choose to leave its tank and would it know how to find its way back. Sounds cool. Are you sure she has eggs? Have you checked? I do know that if she doesn't lay sooner or later your gonna have to see a vet.