Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[xyz]

Does any one know how long after mating I should expect to see eggs from my yellow bellied sliders ???

[Chantal]

Hi there!
So you own a Yellow Bellied Slider. So do I. His name is Mortin. He's really cute. I also have a Red Ear and a Scotter Slider.
I've never breed them but asked someone that does this for a living. I asked the question for you. This is what he told me.
The gestation period for an adult female slider is about two months. Although if she cannot find a suitable nesting site she will hold her eggs longer, increasing the time before laying.
He also mentioned that before laying her eggs, the female will begins to spend an abnormally longer periods of time on land, scratching, sniffing and digging around for potential egg laying sites. When he see that she is doing this, he removes her from her housing and place her in her nesting quarters that he has set up specifically for egg laying. He says that it doesn't need to be bigger than a 20 gallon tank but instead of mostly water, he fills it with about 4 inches of potting soil or a potting soil/vermiculite mixture. The average number of eggs in a slider's clutch can be anywhere from 2 to 20 eggs.
Once the eggs are layed he removes the eggs from the mother's nest and place them in an incubator. He mentioned that you have to be extremely careful when moving the eggs not to turn the eggs over. It could cause the embryos to suffocate.
80 to 85 days after the eggs have been laid, he starts watching them closely because hatching time is near. He also said that many of us makes the mistake of trying to help the hatchings out of their shells. We should let nature take it course. The hatchings will remain in their shells for a day or perhaps even longer if their lungs are not yet fully developed. We also need to let the yock sac fall off on its own. If you try to remove it yourself you will likely kill the animal. When it does drop off, you will notice a Split in the plastron. That to will heal in time and shouldn't be treated. Once fully hatch, he places a dozen per 20 gal. tank. He also mention that many people do not realize that a newborn aquatic turtle is actually prone to drowning. That unlike the adults, the young turtles do not have the ability to stay underwater for excessively long periods of time and their tiny legs tire out quickly and they haven't mastered floating techniques. So keep the water shallow.

Hopefully this is helpful for you. Good luck. Let me know how it works out. I might decide to try it myself when they get a little older but would love to hear from your experience. He made it should like it was so easy. Keep me posted.

[xyz]

Thanks for the info, it was worth the wait ! I will keep you informed if any eggs appear

[Chantal]

OK, I'll be wait to hear from you.