How long before my yellow bellied turtles lays her eggs

Question

my turtles that are both 5 years old breed 2 weeks ago and i can now see an egg at each side of her legs sticking out is it about 1 month before she lays them and yes ive got a nest set up etc

Answer 1

After mating it is advisable during pregnancy to keep the female separate from the male, so that she will not get disturbed so much.  You should handle her ONLY when absolutely necessary.  Keep the water very clean and give her enough space.  Heating is also very important as they will spend a lot of time basking to warm themselves and the eggs inside.  You might notice a change in the appetite of the female, she might refuse to eat.  This is normal.  Nevertheless, continue offering her food and consider a dietary change, she might feel inclined to eat certain things only.Prepare a 20 gallon tank with about 4 inches of potting soil or soil/vermiculite mixture..The average gestation period is two months, but if she doesn't find a suitable place for laying her eggs, she might retain them inside.  During the last two weeks you will notice that she will want to spend more time on land, sniffing and digging around inorder to find a proper place for laying her leggs.  At this point, you need to place the female in the nesting quarters. Try to watch her as much as you can to see where she lays the eggs.  She might lay from 2 to 20 eggs.

MOST IMPORTANT

You should start to observe the eggs more carefully about 80 to 85 days after they had been laid.  Hatching time is comming!  Once the time comes, the hatchings will cut the egg shell with something called the egg tooth, which falls out about an hour later and never grows back.  If they don't feel secure, they will remain inside their shells.  Do not try to take them out until they have come out on their own. (they might not come out until the following day).   Once they come out, you will notice a small sack hanging out of their bellies. This is the yolk sac that fed them while they were incubating.  DO NOT try to remove this sac, trying to remove it can kill the baby turtle.  It is better to wait that it drops on its own.  Once it drops, you will notice a split in the plastron.  This will heal by itself too, you don't need to treat it.  

  Care of the hatchlings

  Set them on a 20 gallon tank per dozen.  Provide them with a dry land area and a shallow water area.  Newborns need to master the art of floating and staying underwater for long periods of time.  Don't assume that they will survive only with water.  Newborn red-eared sliders can actually drown if you neglect them a dry land area. Once they are set up in their tank start feeding them.  It is important to get them to eat.  Start by offering them one by one all items on the proper slider diet.  Note:  You might have to 'chop' all of the food you offer since they are small babies.   This includes choping earthworms, mealworms, crickets.  I know, this sounds disgusting but believe me, you will get used to after a while and it won't bother you anymore. As  with addult sliders, newborns need to have their full spectrum light.  So don't forget to include that in the tank.  The full spectrum light will help the newborn shells to harden. Keep the water neatly clean.  If you don't have a filter change the water every two days.  This is very important since  baby sliders are more prone to getting eye infecitions (that can leave them blind for life or even kill them) than adult sliders.

Feed the parents plenty of fish

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