I have two female beardies. One who is an extreme egg layer and the other not so much. Generally speaking my beadies egg laying season is from mid March to early September. Not sure if it would be likely to have eggs ready to lay now, but this could be a possibility. Also as a note even when my Emmalee is full of eggs 20 or more, I have never been able to feel them, they are way too soft for me to palpate. However, she will generally look a lot more puffy or bloated when egg laden. Appetite for a beardie full of eggs will be way down, and usually for quite some time as once they are full of eggs they are generally not interested in eating.
I generally have a lay box ready in case I see this digging behavior. For a lay box I fill up a clear rubbermaid bin, about 6 inches with sterilized soil and play sand 50/50 mix. You want the mix to be moist so when she digs she is able to produce a small cave or hole to deposit her eggs in. When you put her in the box she may do nothing. I usually leave my females in there for a couple hours....alone. If no eggs are deposited then I return them to their viv. And return them to the box if the digging continues.
However, one of my females will also do this hiding, scratching behavior when she is ready to brumate. She generally will go into her cave in her viv and scratch for a good hour or so before finally deciding to brumate for a while. So this could also be a possibility given that it has been much colder/darker for you. I would suspect that this is what she is trying to do. One of my dragons decided to brumate this weekend after the time change as well. A beardie ready to brumate may have a lower appetite as well. Do you have a cave in her viv that she can go to? Have you noticed lately if she has been using her basking area?
