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My 10-year-old female has not been as active as she used to be lately. She spent couple of hours basking (sometimes with her head down). Her appetite is pretty good (normal) but I've noticed she's not as crazy as she used to be when I approach the tank. I've never seen her kicking her tail though, wondering if she's egg bound...and what do I do if she is? Please offer any suggestions you may have, thank you.

One more thing I've forgot to mention. Usually my turtles don't sleep until I turn off the lights. Lately, this female turtle has been hiding under the basking log to sleep 2 to 3 hours prior to her usual bedtime. Is she sick? or older turtles just require more sleep? I've noticed my other 10-year-old male turtle has been shutting his eyes about 2 hours prior to his usual bedtime as well...do you think this is normal behavior???

Do you have pebbles in you tank, if so, your turtle may have swallowed a pebble and is trying to get it out by kicking at her rear, if you turtle can't get it out it may get plugged up and may die from it, you need to take it to a vet to check her out.

As for the sleeping thing, each turtle is different, some sleep alot others play around all day and sleep all (or most ) of the night.

Are you sure your female is gravid? Usually they become restless in the tank and make digging motions with the hind legs. I've also heard they lose their appetite. Can you feel any eggs? (Gently stick your index finger in front of the hind legs and feel the abdomen area.)

If you think she may need to lay eggs, you could create a nesting site for her that she can go to when/if she needs to. If you think she's eggbound you could take her to a herp vet for an x-ray. If she is eggbound, the vet would most like give her an injection so she'll expell the eggs.

Don't know what to say about the behavior you wrote about. Don't know where you are, but assuming they're healthy, could the weather be affecting them?

There's no pebbles in the tank, just water, basking log, heater and a UVB lamp on it and another female turtle. The temp is actually getting warmer now but it gets quite cool at night time, so I still have the heater in there. She's not coughing/sneezing, no gasping, swims fine, eats well, just that she bask A LOT and I saw her resting her head on the baskign log many many times.....not behaving like her usual active way....should I be worried?????

what's the water & basking temps? If the water is too cool that might explain it.

Is she more active when the water warms up?

the water is actually very warm....around 80 to 82 degrees.

she's only active when she sees me holding the food can (they can recognize the can) and begs for food for a little while....

Sorry, kept on coming up with more info as I think about Yogi, her eyes are clear, she's still alert....do you think there might be a chance that she's gravid with non-fertile eggs since she's 10 years old?

i have a female turtle ... do they lay eggs normally or do they need a male to impregnant them ... not sure because my bird lays eggs constantly and she is the only bird

female res will lay eggs regardless. without a male, they will be infertile and will not hatch.

yourprettypiggy, has she laid eggs before?

will she be able to lay her eggs in the gravel or will she only lay her eggs on land ... and at what age will she lay her eggs

If the water temp is 80-82F, I'd lower it about 4-5 degrees. What's the temp of the basking area?

Prettypiggy, she doesn't sound like she's gravid from her behavior, but if you very gently put your finger in the area in front of her hind legs, it is possible to feel them if she has them (but not always). Short of that, taking her to a reptile vet would be the best way to find out for sure. They'd show up on an x-ray if she had any.

Mitchy04, if a turtle is gravid, she should have a nesting site to lay them in--if you just let her lay them on the gravel in the tank, she may try to retain them. If any should rupture inside her, she'll need a herp vet and quick. Read the info at http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm for what and what to do. Female RES don't begin laying eggs until they're about 5 years old (and adults).

well my res turtle is 17 months old so i guess i have alot of time to come up with an idea of building a dry area for her ... she is 9" already so my plan is to use my 20 gallon tank that is not in use and make it half soil and half water .. i have an extra heater and uva and uva bulbs so when ever i see symtons of her laying eggs i will put her in the 20 gallon for a couple days until she lays her eggs then simply put her back in the 70 gallon