Just One Egg

Hey There! My friend has had two beardies since they were 2 weeks old. He thought they were both females since they got along together in the same enclosure for the past year. Lately the little one has been bullying the big one so he separated them. Yesterday the big one laid an egg. Just one. Now we are thinking maybe little guy might be a male and this egg may be fertilized. We removed the egg and are using heat lamp to keep temp at 85- 90 degrees. Is mommy beardie okay? Shouldn't she have laid a whole clutch? My friend put sand in her pen; this is where she laid her one egg. As you can tell, we have had a terrible time trying to figure out what sex they are! I'm hoping my Gryphon is a male; he is huge- 23 in. 780 gr. He and my friends' little one look alike with distinct spikes, big head and thick tails. Both headbob at nothing! The known female is passive with a little head and skinny tail. All three are 14 months. Even the herp. vet couldn't sex them, though this vet has owned his dragon for 26 years. 26!!

Hi there,

It's good that you separated them. I would definitely get a dig box setup for the female who laid one egg. Yes she will have more in her, but if she doesn't feel comfortable laying her eggs she will hold them. And that can lead to some bad complications. So getting her a dig box setup is the best you can do for her right now.

Females can produce eggs even without a male present. But, if she has been with a male this whole time, the eggs most likely are fertilized. If you are not prepared to raise 2 dozen or so little babies, I would definitely consider freezing the eggs to stop any development.

We can help you determine the sex of both dragons.

Post a picture of both dragons like this:

And we will be able to tell you what you have.

-Brandon

Now those pics you posted really show the difference between male and female! I see nothing when I lift Gryph's tail. I'll have to wait until this evening to take his pic, right now he's running around the sun room. I have problems uploading photos to this site with digital camera or phone, says "image cannot be uploaded", but I'll try to get him to sit in front of my laptop later when he's less active. Thank you Brandon! You always reply with very good advice!!

That can sometimes happen if you have your camera set to take super high quality pictures. Or raw pictures. If you compress them or format the picture to be under 8mb it should upload.

Some settings on my camera make the picture larger, so dialing back the quality or not using certain effects or settings usually does the trick to keep them under 8mb.

-Brandon

Hi Brandon, I uploaded 2 pics of Gryphon but I don't know how to put them on this forum. They are floating around somewhere on the site. I'll try to figure it out.

Yaaay!! It finally worked! Thank you MrSpectrum! Now can anyone tell me if my Gryphon is male or female?

She looks female to me
Karrie

Uh-oh... I was thinking male, but I haven't had as much experience.
Head size & shape?

Agreed, looks female to me.

How is the lay box going?

-Brandon

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Awww no! I've been calling Gryphon HIM for 14 months! This dragon was 4 in. when I got him/ her. Grew to 23 in. by 10 months, I was so sure she was a he! Look at the head. Real thick tail too. Very demanding personality. Head bobs and aggressive if he sees another beardie. He isn't allowed to see his litter mates anymore. Guess I better prepare a dig box just in case. My friend made a better dig box. He put moist sand mixed with untreated soil under a shoebox and his female went in it this morning and laid another egg. Then she came out to eat all of her salad! We noticed her belly was lumpy last week. I hope I can feel it if and when Gryph is gravid.