Ideas for egg laying 1

It was very annoyed that the turtles we keep in the environment without the
soil such as apartment houses lay eggs. It is a big problem how we deal with
such turtles' egg lying.I introduce you a turtle loving friend, who
found her own nice ways of making her two lovely turtles, Chichi & Funk lay
eggs and enjoy her life with them. We can feel her love for turtles in the ways.
I hope you also find your own way for making your turtles lay eggs and have
a happy life with your lovely turtles.

<Profile of Chichi & Funk>
Their owner, has been keeping both of them for 9 years since January,1998.
Chichi
Her real name is Daiichi.
She is cowardly in her own pace.
She watches her owner intently
from her house, water tank
when she has something
to request her owner, me.
Funk
Her real name is
She is very friendly and often
appeals for herself. But, she never
sees my fingers without threatening
me.

Kick's way
The laying egg spot for Chichi
It's a hole made of piles
of newspapers and magazines
Chichi lays eggs well in this spot
where her owner gave her
like this

Chichi always lays eggs in this spot in one-two weeks after she stops eating
and begins to rage. Her owner put a storage box with sand and use magazines
as stairs in the room before she found this way. But she was worried that
the room became gritty because turtle,Chichi climbed to and got down from
the box. Then she find the eggs Chichi laid between the box and magazines,
not in the sand. It gave her an idea that Chichi might not need any sand
if only it is a ditch or a hole. And she got this idea as a result of repeating
trial and error. The owner often helps Chichi to take her foot around of the
hole because it's difficult for Chichi to turn her foot to the hole by herself.
Even Chichi which doesn't like to be touched comes to permit her owner's
help because she wants to lay eggs when ten days or more passed.


It's a detailed explanation of how to make this unique spawning spot for Chichi
by her owner.as follows.
Picture 1
Newspapers and magazines mixed at 2: 1rate
and they are connected with the string.
The reason why I choose to mix at 2: 1 rate
is because they move while chichi is digging
because it's too light if they are all newspapers,
but I have a hard time when I put them in order
because it's too heavy if they are all magazines.
The thickness of the each bunch is made about
10- 12cm.
Picture 2.
I make four piles as picture 1 and put them
as picture 2.








Picture 3.
I put used towels to the hole because Chichi looks
into the hole and she can't concentrate on her egg
laying. I often take away these towels carefully
if the towels seem to be obstructive for her.
Picture 4.
I prepare 2 used bed sheets, fold them to just
size and put them on it. The reason why I do like
this is because the thickness is increased to the
piles of newspapers and the magazines and softness
is added moderately.





Picture 5.
I cover with two pieces of newspaper that made
round hole in the center on it and I fix four corners
of it with the adhesive tape.The reason why I put
pieces of newspaper like this is because Chichi likes to
dig on newspapers and cardboards. I think that the
smell of them might presses her egg laying.




Picture 6.
I put bath mats or bath towels at the both sides of
"picture 5" as stairs so that she can climb and
get down from her spot easily.

She can't fill the hole in this her spot. So I take her on the floor where towels
was paved after I make her act look like burying the soil in her spot for a while
( about 5 minutes). She continues to do gesture like burying the hole.
I leave her there until she feels with burying.
She stops burying there in about one and a half hours and walks to her tank.

Fluke's way
The laying egg spot for Funk

Funk is a handicapped turtle in her hinder legs
because of disease in her childhood.
So her owner give her who can't dig sand
well this way.
She is laid well by this way every year.


.
At first an empty Jar put into a container filled with sand, I put the container next to Funk
while she is digging on the carpet hardly. And I put Funk which is digging hardly on the
container soon. She begins dig hardly again soon though she stops digging for a while
and looks to have doubts a little. And she lays eggs easily in 3-4 days after she
stopped eating and began to act for laying. Her gesture of filling the soil is almost
the same as Chichi as I have said above. A little difference in the case of Funk is that I
always add a picnic sheet over the towel because it's covered with sand.

Both Chichi and Funk won't lay their eggs in other way each other. So both of
2 ways I introduced here are their own ways. At the summer of 2006, Chichi laid
44 eggs in total of 5 times, and Funk laid as many as 51 eggs in total of 6 times.
Good work, Chichi & Funk !

Thanks Chichi & Funk and their owner, who showed us nice ways
of laying eggs.


The improved idea by in the summer of 2007

improved her ideas for Chichi and Fluke's egg laying after trial and
error in the summer of 2007

About Chichi
 tried to stuff the newspaper that tore in pieces into the hole instead of a towel
because Chichi seemed to be nervous when removed the towel of the picture 3
above.
In consequence of the trial Chichi came to lay eggs
more smoothly than before.She might be satisfied
with being able to feel the sense that she dig something
for herself. I think it may be important when we understand
turtles' feeling.

About Funk
She makes a tapping noise on the floor with her side shell when she strolls in the house
because she has handicap in the hinder legs as you know. So tried to tied
a handkerchief to her shell for the anti-noise as you see this picture.
Then it made only anti-noise also made Fluke's egg laying smoothly.
Handkerchief might stimulate the sense of her dull hinder legs and help for her egg laying.
Tying handkerchief makes her egg laying easily whenever she can't keep her mind in the
egg laying.
Funk which put on a handkerchief is
so fashionable.
It's not only practicable also cute
in appearance.
The idea for anti-noise became also a heart warming idea full of sympathies for Funk
which has handicap. How wonderful it is ! Both are nice ideas that values turtle's feelings.
.
Chichi laid 40 eggs (5 times) and Funk 47 eggs (7 times) during summer of 2007 ,
and they have finished their egg laying in this year at the end of July already.
Both of them broke their record in egg laying frequency this year.

Chichi which is Cowardly and seldom allow to
have her pictures taken showed us lovely
sleeping face.
She is tired out and sleeping without the caution
after the egg laying.
Good work also this summer, Chichi & Funk !

The report of their egg laying from Chichi & Funk 2009

Chichi & Funk let us know about their egg laying of this year. At the end of March, Funk and
at the beginning of April Chichi began to act for egg laying. And both of them have
already finished egg laying four times.

About symptom that their egg laying activity start.
This is Funk which is basking.
Funk which is basking and eating well
almost everyday.
She comes to rub her shell against
the pump inside water tank when the time
of her egg laying approaches.

For Chichi, she comes to sleep well day before
just before her egg laying activity.
Her owner calls it "before storm".

Improvement of the Fluke's space for egg laying
In Fluke's space that had been used up to now some of sand scatters by her legs caught on
the edge of the Jar before she start scratching there. Then, her owner put on corrugated
paper that cut hole at first. But it's not good. She try to set the bottle in the hole next.
But Funk didn't still lay eggs after she clawed there for about an hour there. Because she
looked to not to like smaller hole than usual one. Then her owner put her usual jar on it.
So she began to scratch there and laid eggs at last. The picture below is her appearance
at that time. Her usual jar may be just good for her which always digs the hole tracing
the edge of the Jar by her legs. (Right picture is seeing the same box from side.)
Her owner pick up her and put on the box quickly when she fell down from the box.
The handkerchief on her shell is always fashionable.


This is her favorite Jar taken out of
the box in picture above
The jar with eggs is cute like one
with marshmallows

The depth and width of the jar seem to be
ones of a hole dug in the ground actually,
We can understand why she like it.

Improvement of the size of the hole in Kick's space.
The size of hole of paper changed smaller than usual one so that she can feel the sense
that breaks papers by herself.(Left)
Right is the picture of Chichi which is burying back the pieces of the broken paper to
the hole after laying eggs.It makes us impressed that she tries to return back even pieces
of paper.

Idea that use smell that stimulates egg laying
Turtles will often sniff when they find laying places as you know.
Kick's favorite things, her interested things in laying time are clear specially.
They are newspapers, a bag knit with hemp yarn, and cardboard box for a iron.
( Though she isn't interested in the newspaper that leave expanding
during one night because its smell has been already lost.)

Getting a hint from this, Kick's owner gave us & our turtles a wonderful proposal.
It's an idea of giving them cheap & small straw carpet instead of straw mats of
the room. Do you feel that there are some common features among newspaper, a hemp bag,
cardboard box and straw mat... except a pillow.

This method is attractive because we can have our turtles lay eggs only in the room
without soil. It's case by case whether it goes well or not.
It's very difficult to give a new way to turtles that has already had their own way.
It's important to give it to them at early time when we want to give them new way.

Thank you for useful information, Chichi & Fluke's owner, .