eggs

[farmgirl]

so i found out a couple months a go boom is not actually a boy. i adopted her just a month or two before that and i found out he was actually a he because she laid a clutch of 24 eggs. well she hasnt ate in almost a month by herself and for almost two weeks now she is laying on and just one or two eggs. she doesn't try to escape her tank and isnt digging like everyone says a gravid beardie does. ive tried putting her in a lay box no digging. i took her to the vet and got x rays done about a week ago and the vet said she was dehydrated and her calcium was good and the x ray looked like she might have one egg in her. so since then she has laid four eggs bout every other day and ive been giving her baby food squash and peas and such with calcium and extra water to keep her hydrated. but i am trying to find out if i should take her back to the vet since she is still laying eggs and not eating more than 1 mealworm on her own. and also how long do beardies lay eggs for?

 

[harlequin1274]

I sent you a PM, but in the meantime I can tell you that it's definitely not uncommon for females to periodically lay clutches of duds. You may want to take her back to the vet if she's still laying, but (as you know) this is zapping her strength, so extra protein and calcium are necessary to help aid in getting her strength back. Also I would increase her baths and making them with pedialyte. That stuff isn't cheap, but you can make it yourself for literally pennies on the dollar with this recipe!

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe
Mix together:

1 quart water
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Please feel free to PM me if you need any further help/advice! Hoping she recovers fast! :love5:

 

[AHBD]

Hi there.... I've had a lot of females lay eggs with no trouble so I'll offer a few tips. First of all,what kind of shape was she in when you got her , was she already on the thin side ? Very thin dragons usually have trouble, but so do obese dragons because it's harder for the eggs to move through the reproductive tract. As was mentioned many females lay infertile eggs, but for them to go off food for a long time and just lay a few here + there shows that she has not had adequate nutrition, calcium, hydration and lights + heating. If she can't absorb calcium [ due to wrong UVB bulbs and/or lack of calcium in her diet ] then she will have trouble laying eggs. This would have all started before you got her. Her calcium blood levels taken at a vets may just look normal because she's producing eggs, but not enough to keep her healthy.

Ask the vet for some Critical Care supplement when you go back. Your'e doing great offering the baby food/water mix, oral hydration is the way to help her get hydrated. What brand + type of lights are you using ? Be sure that she has a basking temp. of about 100-105. If you put her in a dog box make sure it's warm and start a tunnel with your hand so it looks to her like a good place to try to lay her eggs.

Is there a chance that you could post some pics of her ? To do so, load them to a site like photobucket, then copy/paste the img/url here.

 

[farmgirl]

thank you for the pedialyte recipe! i will be giving her baths with that now to help keep her hydrated. i think that is a big thing because she was drinking water every time she took a bath but now she doesn't so i don't know and when i got her she was very healthy. not too skinny but not overweight either and she would eat like a horse when she was hungry but not all the time then she laid her first clutch of eggs and since then hasn't been nearly as good of an eater. she won't eat any kale anymore. at all. all the bulbs that i have for her heating and the uvb bulb were replaced right before i got her and i bought a new bulb just today to see if maybe that will help her. do you think she will be ok until next week to take her to the vet i am completely broke from the last vet visit now in her tank i can get her basking temp anywhere from 98 to 103 depending on the temp of my house as well. she is not to thrilled with me at the moment so pardon her black chin. i just made her eat food but this is my girl. any more advice would be much appreciated and thank you for the advice already given.

 

[harlequin1274]

Well the good news is that she looks great! A tidge dehydrated, but looks like what you're doing is spot on! Are you dusting her bugs with calcium? That's going to definitely perk her up in no time. Her color's good, nice juicy legs :lol: alert eyes. Great job! Lots of love and cuddles are a big help too! Glad we can help, and please do keep us updated!

 

[farmgirl]

thank you and yes I dust her bugs but she will only eat one or two whether it is worms or crickets. today I blended some canned crickets in with baby food nasty to look at but she didn't try spitting it out so that was good but she is darker today thAn yesterday is that normal. a lot of times she is more of a pale yellow rather than the dark color she was in the pic. thank you again!

 

[AHBD]

I agree, she looks good and healthy size wise ......sometimes the odd female will just drop the eggs around the tank like that. It may be a problem, but she may get through it with no ill effects at all. But she does look good on the surface.

By the way, not all UVB bulbs really produce good amounts. What exact type + brand do you have ?

 

[farmgirl]

the original uvula light I have no clue what brand it was but I just got the zilla brand one yesterday from petco and it is one of those long tube ones that is about a foot and a half long. and I got home from work today there was another egg. should I take her back if I find more like that this week because it has been like two weeks since she started laying

 

[AHBD]

O.K., just check to see that the fixture doesn't have a plastic shield over the bulb. And as long as she's passing her eggs she should be O.K Some vets might give a shot of Oxytocin to help the eggs to pass through more quickly, but they need to be in the oviduct already.