HELP WITH GRAVID FEMALE

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petunia

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Hello everyone!

I am having trouble with my dragon Petunia, who is gravid.

BACKGROUND INFO: Petunia has a 36x20x18inch tank (a 40 gallon I think) that is 90 on the hot side and 80 on the cool side (70 at night) with a 100-105 basking spot. Since I work from home she is also accustomed to spend long periods of the day out of her tank in a basking spot in the corner of the room (always around 100 and a small enough corner that the lamp also heats up the surrounding air to 90ish). She usually eats 2-3 bowls of greens (that mid-sized bean shaped ceramic bowl at all the stores), 10ish large crickets, and 10ish medium-large Dubia Roaches every day. She is always happy and chills in her hot spot or explores freely without showing any kinds of stress.

THE GRAVID: So, around a week ago I noticed that Petunia was much more restless and not sitting still on her basking spot. When she was in her cage she would not sit still and was constantly glass surfing, but then when I took her out to her basking spot in the apartment she wouldn't sit still either and was constantly pacing back and forth (like running down and up a particular side of the room a lot). Her tail tip started to get darker and she has been displaying black beard (she never ever does that normally). I took her to the vet and after an x-ray he confirmed that she is gravid and said she should be having her eggs anytime (I was relieved to hear she didn't have tail rot).

THE PROBLEM: Basically I am worried that something is going wrong with her laying her eggs. She still will take a couple bites of greens and 4-5ish Dubia Roaches each day. She still goes poo each day although it is very small amounts and the urinate is pinkish. I put eco-earth (slightly wet with warm water) into the cool side of her cage and built a little hide-dug-out to get her started, but when she's in the cage she doesn't even go near the dirt and just scratches at the glass. I then made her a lay-box by filing a 20ish by 20ish plastic box with 8ish inches of eco earth (similarly wet with warm water and a hide-hole made) and her UV / heat combo above the box. When I put her in the lay-box she seems to chill out for a little bit but then just sits or tries to escape with NO DIGGING.

I am really not sure what to do at this point. Do you think she is not ready to lay the eggs, because she is still not digging? Should I leave her in the lay box all the time (right now I have been leaving her in there for 4-5 hours at a time)?

Also a side question - how do you keep the dirt in the lay-box warm? Because even with her UV / heat combo above it the dirt gets very cold - especially when I leave the tub overnight. Should I be making fresh dirt every day? And when should I be worried that she has egg-binding?

Please help! Thank you so much!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You need to PM ahbd look for her name click.on it and on left side look for pm-- talk to her about your dragon-----
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi Josh, it sure can be stressful when these girls are full of eggs ! So far it just sounds like normal pre-laying behavior that some dragons display. Some are super picky about their laying spot and even end up laying eggs randomly around their tank rather than the laybox, you just can't predict how it will go. You could try getting a large shoebox and cutting one end off, then placing it upside down over the dirt and pushing it down to make a cave. Pictures of Petunia , her tank and her laybox would be helpful. Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
 

petunia

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":hl7iedxk said:
Hi Josh, it sure can be stressful when these girls are full of eggs ! So far it just sounds like normal pre-laying behavior that some dragons display. Some are super picky about their laying spot and even end up laying eggs randomly around their tank rather than the laybox, you just can't predict how it will go. You could try getting a large shoebox and cutting one end off, then placing it upside down over the dirt and pushing it down to make a cave. Pictures of Petunia , her tank and her laybox would be helpful. Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it. I do have caves set up in the cold end of her tank and in her laybox (see pictures) but she seems to not want to go in there...maybe because the dirt in there can get cold? She ate more today than yesterday or the day before and was scrambling around less; not sure whether that means she's closer to laying? I put her in her lay box for a couple hours but she escaped...going to put her back in with a weight on the screen now.

Here is a picture of Petunia:
108030-1428560880.jpg

Here is a close up of her tail:
108030-7541750441.jpg

Here is a picture of her tank:
108030-6142455349.jpg

Here is a picture of the cave in her tank (I wet the dirt a lil before she goes back in there):
108030-7169448663.jpg

Here is a picture of her laybox with fist for scale (I cover it with a screen and hang her normal big Double Dome light above it in a secluded corner):
108030-8152785781.jpg
 

petunia

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":p3zlhrdb said:
Oh dear-- is that a 13 watt or 26?
Karrie

It is a 26 watt. Also often she is in direct sunlight (when out of her cage) with the bulb also hanging over her. Do you think I should get a different one? I have a new 4ft tank coming for her for which I was thinking of getting one of those strips.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Yes I second the TUBE--- this is what you want a 24" fixture w/ reflector and a Reptisun 10.0 T 5- you can look on this website--
www.pangereptiles.com -- these people are fast and good they ship Fed ex-- I hear Amazon is terribly slow just FYI- people ordering this stuff is saying it's taken a week or longer- I do not like the coils I have heard nothing bad yet about the 26 Reptisun but to me it's still not good and the 13 is a killer
Good luck w/ your baby
Karrie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

She is beautiful, great colors!
Definitely change out & upgrade your UVB to a tube bulb. She may need a calcium boost
to help her out.
How often does she get calcium? Maybe you should give her a little extra for awhile in case
she needs a good boost.
The lay box looks really nice, so hopefully she will use it soon!

Tracie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I agree, some the layboxes look good. If anything you might add some sand to the larger one, mix it in with the eco- earh and pile it higher under the cardboard box. Other than that they look good. I also agree with the uvb upgrade and making sure she has plenty of calcium dusted food. She's beautiful, looks good + healthy and hopefully will have no trouble laying her eggs. :)
 

petunia

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":1037x8k8 said:
I agree, some the layboxes look good. If anything you might add some sand to the larger one, mix it in with the eco- earh and pile it higher under the cardboard box. Other than that they look good. I also agree with the uvb upgrade and making sure she has plenty of calcium dusted food. She's beautiful, looks good + healthy and hopefully will have no trouble laying her eggs. :)

Hey all thank you so much for your advice! I have an order in for the new bulb, and will definitely add sand and more volume to her laybox. I dust all of her week-day roaches with calcium (multivitamin on the weekends) and during this time have also been sprinkling a little calcium on her greens.

An update...Petunia is still eating about half a bowl of greens and 5ish roaches a day (had a normal stool this morning instead of the little ones). She also does not seem to want to be in the laybox. Do you think it is just too early for her to dig? I would love some advice on when its time to keep her in the box / how long to keep her in the box at a time.

Sorry for more questions I'm a nervous nelly!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
If she's eating and not interested in digging then just carry on as usual. She has the option of the area in her tank that you have set up with eco earth so she'll be fine. If she starts digging a lot you can put her in the laybox. If she doesn't dog for an hour then just put her back in her tank again. She'll be fine. :)
 

petunia

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":m2c33va8 said:
If she's eating and not interested in digging then just carry on as usual. She has the option of the area in her tank that you have set up with eco earth so she'll be fine. If she starts digging a lot you can put her in the laybox. If she doesn't dog for an hour then just put her back in her tank again. She'll be fine. :)

Ok I will try to calm down and just let her do her thing. Thank you so much for the advice <3

Ill keep you updated
 
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