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i have realized my female RES has eggs and made a nesting box out of a storage bin filled with soil. she seems to just want to escape. does this mean she doesnt have eggs to lay or just that she is uncomfortable? and would it be wrong to leave the box mostly covered (with areas for breathing of course) to prevent escape and encourage egg laying?

she also gets covered in all the soil when in there? is this bad for her?

Most turtles won't use nest boxes to begin with, and it sounds like yours isn't quite ready to lay yet. Have you seen her making awkward hind leg movements, or making alternating "scratching motions" with her hind legs when out of the water? Is she restless in the tank, or trying to dig through the bottom? Also, how did you test for eggs? Palpation or just behavioral observation?

Covering herself in the soil shouldn't hurt her, but if she persists with escaping behavior after 1.5 hours in the box, then you should clean her off and put her back in the tank.

she has been acting very intensely the past few days with swimming towards the water level (she always has been a furious begger obviously, but these last few days it has really felt like more of an attempt to escape) i have seen a few weird leg things in the water against the submerged portion of her dock.

besides that i also watched a video on where to check and it feels like there is something there.

not so much digging at the bottom, more towards the top but incredibly intensely. i guess it could just be more begging, but i didnt want to risk it because of the risks i was reading about keeping eggs in, and the fact that she is about the age for this sort of thing (roughly 5)

Have you felt for eggs?

steve wrote:Have you felt for eggs?

yes, and it feels like there is something there. which is why i am very worried about bindng. but its hard to know what will make her do it

she doesnt seem to want anything to do with that box and soil or understand why i put her there. i live upstairs in an apartment building so not really sure if outdoors is an option

I've heard that it takes some turtles up to 2 months to lay eggs. If she's been gravid much longer than that, you may need to get an oxytocin shot from the vet.

Jeremiah wrote:I've heard that it takes some turtles up to 2 months to lay eggs. If she's been gravid much longer than that, you may need to get an oxytocin shot from the vet.

i don't really know how long that's the problem. it's possible she isn't. the freaking out just seemed excessive. should i try putting her back in the box when she has another escaping the tank attempt like episode?

Does she act up for the whole day? Or just certain times? Is it the same time each day? Does she respond to you or food when acting up?

steve wrote:Does she act up for the whole day? Or just certain times? Is it the same time each day? Does she respond to you or food when acting up?

not the whole day. it's been less lately. but it really feels like there's something there, and she does weird kicking things sometimes.

she usually responds to food, but there was a few times last week that she didn't finish, which is very rare for her.

i just don't know what to do. she seems pretty normal and healthy right now, i'm just so scared the thing will happen where they die from keeping them in. but that is something that would happen slowly and i would notice, right? not just a random thing without any signs leading up?

i can't find a lot online about the symptoms of binding occuring.

There's plenty of dystocia information on the main redearslider.com website.

Where have you been feeling for eggs? You may be looking in the wrong area. Palpation is done between the side of the bridge and the hind leg.