You're absolutely right! I had suspicions but this is her first time carrying eggs (and my first beardie) so I assumed the worst. I felt her belly and sure enough, shes got lumpy bumpy eggs. We built her a sandpit yesterday and it has definitely helped her glass surfing. Shes just digging instead! Much quieter though so I'm happy.
I wish there were more articles about it! When I googled her behaviors, poop habits, and loss of appetite everything told me she had parasites or was sick. But now that I know whats going on, I have been able to read all about gravid females and her symptoms are exactly the same.
FYI for the people that come across this post later with the same issues, here are the symptoms and behaviors I learned:
-gravid = pregnant! Fertile (if they've been with a male) or nonfertile eggs
-they lay eggs even if they haven't been with a male, nonfertile^
-not all females lay infertile eggs, it just depends on your beardie
-beardies can become gravid as early as 10 months old, more like around 1.5-2 years old
SYMPTOMS/BEHAVIORS
- gravid females will have a sudden spike in behavior/energy with excessive digging and glass surfing
--> for my beardie it was almost all day long
- loss of appetite even with their favorite veggies and feeders --> I'm still offering her food every day just in case she does get hungry though
- on the outer edges of her belly (both sides), this is where you can potentially feel for eggs --> although it's my understanding that this isn't always the case that you can feel them and they can still be carrying eggs
- bigger, rounder belly
- extra pooping --> my beardie used to poop once every other day, now she's been pooping twice a day and they tended to be liquidy and less formed, but not always
- I also noticed a pink tint to her urate, this is also what made me nervous she may have parasites --> but low and behold, after reading all about gravid females, there are a lot of reports of a pink tint in their urate
- feed them extra calcium supplements during this time to ensure full growth from eggs, prevent egg binding and to prevent metabolic bone disease of your beardie
-they need extra baths! They need to be
hydrated during this time, plus I'm sure it feels nice
- they need sandpits to lay their eggs, not to mention it calmed down her glass surfing
--> we cut a strip of cardboard (as long as the width of her tank) and folded it in half to make a
short, triangular ramp that she can hop over
--> taped the cardboard ramp about 1/3 of the way in her tank and filled that part with reptile
sand
--> we didn't want to risk impaction so this is why we sectioned off her cage with part sand, part
tile
--> once she lays her eggs, we'll scoop and vacuum the sand up (I personally don't like sand as a
a permanent addition to her tank)
- they're most likely to become gravid during springtime or after brumation, but this is not always the case
-if its been more than 45 days since you've noticed she's gravid and or has become lethargic schedule a vet appointment because something may be wrong (egg bound, Yolk peritonitis, etc)
- if your bearded dragon as a yellow, yolk like a bowel movement, this could be a signal of yolk peritonitis which can be fatal and needs attention right away