RIP Jojo <3 *8/23/06~6/29/10*

I can try to give a quick run through of basic lizard reproduction, but don't have any diagrams or anything to explain it so some bits might be a bit harder to follow. A decent exotic veterinary book should go through it with diagrams though, which may make it easier to understand.


I'll start from the beginning - apologies if you already know any of this. I've put some terms in inverted commas in brackets - if you were going to look through an index of a book or on the web for more information, these are the technical terms you should probably use. Female lizards have paired ovaries and paired oviducts. The ovaries vary in size depending on what part of the reproductive cycle the female's in, but are generally quite small when she's not producing eggs. Lizards don't have a uterus; the oviducts connect straight to the cloaca.

There are various triggers to start the reproductive cycle - day-length changes, UV intensity changes, temperature changes, possibly humidity changes, weather changes etc etc...

The females produce "follicles" in their ovaries, which are basically just ova surrounded by yolk. These are released from the ovary ("ovulation"), but don't have shells added until they are inside the oviduct - at this point they'd be referred to as "eggs".

Unlike a lot of lizards which only have a single site ("germinal bed"), beardies have two beds within each ovary which can produce follicles. What this means is that both ovaries can contribute to a single clutch of eggs, and the female can be producing the follicles for the second clutch before the first clutch is even laid, if that makes sense? The usual time between clutches is around 3-4 weeks, but production of the eggs from scratch takes longer than this, so the ovaries need to be capable of overlapping production, to allow the female to lay 2-3 clutches in a single breeding season. As I said earlier, a decent exotic veterinary book should go through this.

To answer your question about feeling eggs, it's no guarantee they are close to laying if you can feel follicles. The follicles in beardies can be quite large before they're shelled, and you may occasionally feel them. I'd advise you not to go feeling around too hard for them though, as they can be burst if you're too rough. A burst follicle requires surgery and can sometimes be fatal. I've very gently felt pea-sized lumps in a beardie up to 3 weeks before laying. Sometimes you'll feel nothing though; it depends on the beardie, her stomach musculature, her fat levels, the size of the eggs, the clutch size and so on.

With regards to sperm storage, it is something they can do, but as far as I know it's only short term. I've never seen any research suggesting sperm storage for more than few months, and research suggests they cannot store sperm between breeding seasons. I don't know how beardie sperm storage works if the female is mated multiple times by different males; in some insects the sperms mix (so two matings would give you a roughly 50:50 split in paternality). Other insects seem to mostly use sperm from the most recent mating, giving a split more like 10:90.

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vickson420":d731f said:

Hi Michelle
So a little birdie told me that Jojo is driving you to drink? :wink:
The behavior is perfectly normal for a gravid beardie so the vet i correct HOWEVER I have yet to see a beardie absorb its eggs.While geckos and other lizards can I have never actually seen that happen with beardies.It is possible I suppose I just have not had the experience myself.Now the lack og eating,the strange pooping are all part of the process which in itself is quite nerve wracking.The two most important things I would do is make sure to bathe her daily and supplement her food with a protien babyfood,calcium and jumpstart at least pnce a day until she starts eating on her own again.She may not lay eggs at all if the follicles are just swollen and she doesnt actually produce the eggs but keep that laybox handy for her just in case.Jojo hasnt laid eggs before right?How old is she again?

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diamc":b9237 said:

Yes, I noticed the SAME thing and thought of her now that the humidity level is higher. How did she handle the vet visit? Sorry Dr Sean wasn't available, I know he would have explained everything to you in great detail.

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diamc":a397c said:

Well Vicky, Michele and I were discussing Jojo as soon as she started acting differently and I gave her examples of Phoenix behavior. It's amazing the boundless energy they have when their hormones take over, they must be very confused too. I wouldn't put anything past Sabrina either, she'll do just about anything for attention or to be laughed out. :mrgreen:

Michele, hopefully Jojo will lay her eggs and that will be the end of it, we can hope anyway.

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