Female RT - Egg Laying? What's wrong?

[travisgn]

My female RT has been acting like she is going to lay eggs. She laid two clutches of two eggs each back in August/September. She has been permanently separated from my male since July. She is digging like crazy and not eating much. Is there any chance she could lay more eggs?

In some ways this seems like nesting, but she is acting somewhat differently than she did before. She is spending more hours digging than before, and even more vigorously. Also before she would sometimes dig to get out with her front claws, and sometimes dig nests with her back claws. I have yet to see her dig what looked like potential nest sites with her back claws this time. This has been going on for about a week now. If not eggs, what could be wrong? Nothing about her setup has changed other than its location. Her enclosure seems fine, and she seems fine on visual inspection. She has a few dings on her plastron (with a little peeling as well), but they aren't soft or anything. I don't believe they are new, nor are they spreading. I tried to get pics but have so far failed to get any that really show anything clearly.

It seems that when a tortoise is sick in some way they tend to get lethargic, from what I have read. Could increased activity suggest illness?

This is now sounding like the recent thread about high activity and low appetite, which worked itself out. I hoped the same would happen for me but I am starting to get worried.

Thanks!
Travis

 

[egyptiandan]

Did she lay in this enclosure before? Is the substrate damp and packed down? Is the substrate deep enough?

It is possible she is gravid and just doesn't like the conditions in the enclosure so is trying to find a place to lay her eggs somewhere else.

Danny

 

[travisgn]

Thanks Danny. I wasn't sure if her laying more eggs was even a possibility at this point. She laid her other eggs in this enclosure, but I built her a nest box that had deeper substrate than the rest of the enclosure. She dug and dug for 7-10 days both times before eventually using the nest box. I will track it down and put it back in place.