Need advice: unmated female laying infertile eggs

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alipants

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So I have a 5 year old female beardie who a few days ago laid an infertile egg. She has never been in contact with a male so I'm 99% sure her eggs are not fertile. Yesterday she laid 4 more eggs over 12 hours (3 in her regular tank, 1 in the lay tank and 1 i the bath) but she is not laying the whole clutch. I was not prepared for this when she laid the first egg so yesterday I set up a lay box for her in an old 20 gallon. I used a combination of play sand and organic soil for substrate. I left her in there for a while and she didn't dig so I moved her back to her regular tank for today and supplied some sand/soil mixrure incase she prefered her home to lay her eggs in. I was half expecting eggs when I got home but she hasn't laid any since last night.

I was wondering if it is possible that she only had the 5 eggs in her? I've tried checking her belly but can't tell if there are more. She ate 6 large crickets yesterday before refusing more and hasn't wanted to eat at all today. She is active, alert and drinking lots of water (I've been adding liquid calcium to her water to help with the egg laying as well.) It's only been 2 days so I'm not crazy worried yet but wanted to know if it is normal to take females a while before they lay a clutch.

Any tips/advice is much appreciated!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, be sure to ad enough water to the substrate so she can dig a real tunnel/cave. You need to pile it up pretty high too, that's the way they feel most comfortable is with a large pile they can dig in to. Some dragons just lay eggs anywhere though so even with the best laybox they may pop eggs out in different places/. Here's a really good tutorial on layboxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNwqHsV7peE

It's 10 minutes long but you can skip ahead to the actual end result.
 

alipants

New member
Original Poster
Thank you for your reply. She laid a sixth egg while I was out this evening so I gave her a good soak. One thing that is slightly concerning is I noticed that her eyes are a bit sunken in. I know this can be because of dehydration but she is drinking a lot of water and I am giving her lots of baths.She also has a chronic prolapse problem which has been addressed by a vet who was baffled and the vet concluded that I'll need to just replace it every time she poops. This prolapse has been happening for 2 and half years now and happens every time she's laid an egg over the last 2 days. I'm wondering if the prolapse is forcing her to lay them one at a time.

As for the lay box I did make a bit of a hill on one side for her to dig in but maybe I need to make it even higher. I'll try switching it up and see if she likes it better.

Thanks again for the advice!
 

possumpeg

Member
Cheddar is about 9 months old and started tearing up the tank, so I prepared a nesting box for her. She stopped eating about 4 days ago. I just need to know a couple things. A. She has buried herself and I was wondering if I should unseal the entrance to check on her. B. How long will she stay in there before coming out? C. Do I need to keep all her lights on her while she is in there.
I know she's alive because I opened the entrance yesterday and felt her little leg, which she drew away when I touched it. I spritz the top of the sand everyday until it looks like dew and all the sand is moistened.
She has been very healthy and we are just concerned about her!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Has she been in there since yesterday ? If so then she''s probably just hiding, not laying eggs [ unless you put her in really late night ] BTW Possum, it would be good to start your dragon's personal thread so that issues concerning her situation won't get mixed up with the O.P.'s.
 
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