Hi, I’ve had my turtle for about five years. About three years ago she started exhibiting symptoms of wanting to nest. I live in an apartment so I don’t have access to a yard that she can walk around in and find a spot, so I thought that the nesting box would be the answer.  So I went out and I got her one and filled it with dirt. She hated it so much she wound up laying her eggs in her tank.  For the past few years, I didn’t see the nesting symptoms.

Flash forward last month, and she seemed to need to nest again. All of a sudden she was going crazy trying to get out her tank. So I went out, got a new bin and this time I filled it with sand, sprayed it with a little water and warmed it. She rejected it almost immediately (even after putting a lid on and stepping away). Then I put some organic topsoil on top, warmed it, a little water. She rejected that even faster. The only relief (either of us got) was putting a small bin of warm water in a second, smaller tank on the floor that I use when changing her main tank. I put a little tin of dirt in the corner but she seemed to only go in it to try and get out, so that didn’t seem to work. 

At any rate, soaking in the warm water seemed to calm her down. 

But I didn’t see any eggs. She just got dirt over her. 

So after a crazy week she was back to normal. I hoped that she laid the eggs in her tank and just ate them (like she did a few years ago) before I woke up. 

But now a month later, she’s antsy again so, maybe she didn’t lay them, but I don’t know what else to try. I don’t want her to hold onto the eggs (if that’s what’s happening). Her regular tank doesn’t work, not the small tank and definitely not the dirt box. 
 
She seems to not like the feel of dirt at all. (I’ve tried many different ways of introducing it.)

So I’ve resorted to just letting her walk around on the carpet. But it’s been days and all she does is walk back and forth through it trying to find a spot that I will let her go to (most of the floor, but some areas are a no). Her prime searching times are late morning (when I need to be working) and late nite (when I should be sleeping).

I would love to introduce some type of hiding nook or something she might use so she can lay. She doesn’t seem to care about dark or quiet. But she does walk on both the carpet and non carpet floors (while she tries to make a hole in the carpet).

I could use any thoughts anyone has if anyone has gone through anything similar.

I don’t want her holding onto her eggs, but I don’t know how to soothe her so that she’ll lay them and get our lives back to normal. Any advice would be great. 

Nesting Probs!