Gravid behaviour

[Catwoman63]

I was looking at gravid behaviour threads tonight as Xena is very restless, scraping at the wall inside the shed to come out, pacing around my sitting room and kitchen, always wanting to climb over objects, stretching her head to look up and around, i put her back in the shed then its not long before shes scraping to come out again, I've had her for a year now and hasnt shown any digging behaviour all last year, her appetite is huge and she always wants food. Zelda is the complete opposite, quiet and mooching around, eating and basking, but Xenas all over the place.

i wondered if they can produce eggs years later, I have no idea about gravid behaviour, she has always been a boisterous girl, climbing all over the place in the garden, up trees, over the juveniles enclosure.

I just wondered if its at all possible x

[egyptiandan64]

It's possible she's gravid but most likely she's just ready to be mated. Females that don't have a male coming to them will try to search one out, especially if they feel they have enough reserves to lay eggs.

Danny

[Suze65]

Hi Bev, it sounds a lot like gravid behaviour , but it might not be, when my Jemima is gravid she is manic and isn't interested in food, but that might just be her.

[kazzabb]

has she got a deep-ish amount of soil to dig around in? that might give you the answer. I filled a big box - an old wooden filing cabinet drawer from the tip - with slightly damp topsoil and put a baking lamp overhead, then knocked the end panel off the box and placed it on liner (it weighed a ton and made a mess!). If she's gravid she might start digging a nest in it. It worked with mine. she hadn't been with a male since I got her six months earlier, but she laid eggs anyway. I needed the box because it was February, and she was in the greenhouse with no very deep soil available for digging. In the Spring and Summer she would have been able to dig locally. I read as much info as I could, because apparently the soil needs to be of the right consistency and stickability, not caving in, a bit like trying to build castles on the beach.
Karen

[Catwoman63]

Thankyou, so shes most likely feeling very fruity, i will ofcourse watch for digging behaviour but as they are not going outside in the garden as its too cold, she hasnt really got anywhere to dig properly, shame i cant get a stud male horsfield to borrow to satisfy her fruitiness lol, would love to get a male but only have room for 1 tort in quarantine at the moment, by the summer i will be looking for and have room for a big boy horsfield ooo la la x

[Catwoman63]

Originally Posted by kazzabb

has she got a deep-ish amount of soil to dig around in? that might give you the answer. I filled a big box - an old wooden filing cabinet drawer from the tip - with slightly damp topsoil and put a baking lamp overhead, then knocked the end panel off the box and placed it on liner (it weighed a ton and made a mess!). If she's gravid she might start digging a nest in it. It worked with mine. she hadn't been with a male since I got her six months earlier, but she laid eggs anyway. I needed the box because it was February, and she was in the greenhouse with no very deep soil available for digging. In the Spring and Summer she would have been able to dig locally. I read as much info as I could, because apparently the soil needs to be of the right consistency and stickability, not caving in, a bit like trying to build castles on the beach.
Karen

It might be worth setting up a deep soil filled box in the shed just to see, but if i do that i will have to bring Zelda indoors. I could do a test and see what Xena does, i have all of next week off work so will trial it then.

She hasnt been with a male while she has been with me, but she might have mated in 2011 before her hibernation with her previous owner.

Is it possible then for them to mate in 2011, and not produce eggs for 1 or 2 years later? x

[kazzabb]

Would you have to separate them? Mine was with her cell-mate I got them as a pair of females. The trick was keeping the non-gravid female from just lying in the sand and basking, instead of lying under one of the other basking lights. It didn't seem to bother the one that wanted to dig, she dug loads of trial nests and recovered them, and if I hadn't been keeping check, there was not a trace she'd ever dug any nest. She went on a kind of 'mission' and into a bit of a determined trance and just kept digging holes over a few days, at times I thought she was going to fall into the holes she dug, but she was an expert. Can you imagine if someone put us onto a pile of sand and said, now dig a hole with your feet, that's about as deep as over half your height. I'd have to grow my toenails a bit
Karen

[kazzabb]

Originally Posted by Catwoman63

Thankyou, so shes most likely feeling very fruity, i will ofcourse watch for digging behaviour but as they are not going outside in the garden as its too cold, she hasnt really got anywhere to dig properly, shame i cant get a stud male horsfield to borrow to satisfy her fruitiness lol, would love to get a male but only have room for 1 tort in quarantine at the moment, by the summer i will be looking for and have room for a big boy horsfield ooo la la x

There's a bloke on RFUK needs to rehome his 19-year-old horsfield male. He's very sad, it was his dad's who left home and left the tort. Are you sure you can't fit him in? He lives in Nottingham (Ben192)
Karen

[Suze65]

Originally Posted by Catwoman63

It might be worth setting up a deep soil filled box in the shed just to see, but if i do that i will have to bring Zelda indoors. I could do a test and see what Xena does, i have all of next week off work so will trial it then.

She hasnt been with a male while she has been with me, but she might have mated in 2011 before her hibernation with her previous owner.

Is it possible then for them to mate in 2011, and not produce eggs for 1 or 2 years later? x

It is perfectly possible to have mated in 2011 and hang on to the sperm in her body for up to 2 or 3 years and then produce fertile eggs.

[Catwoman63]

Originally Posted by kazzabb

Would you have to separate them? Mine was with her cell-mate I got them as a pair of females. The trick was keeping the non-gravid female from just lying in the sand and basking, instead of lying under one of the other basking lights. It didn't seem to bother the one that wanted to dig, she dug loads of trial nests and recovered them, and if I hadn't been keeping check, there was not a trace she'd ever dug any nest. She went on a kind of 'mission' and into a bit of a determined trance and just kept digging holes over a few days, at times I thought she was going to fall into the holes she dug, but she was an expert. Can you imagine if someone put us onto a pile of sand and said, now dig a hole with your feet, that's about as deep as over half your height. I'd have to grow my toenails a bit
Karen

Its only because Zelda is really quiet and easily bullied and i dont want Xena to bite and bully her if she is trying to lay eggs, i could try with her in there with her.

And they have got nice long back toe nails to dig lol x