Daily digging, now low energy without laying?

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So Pancake decided around late November that she wanted to dig. I gave her her dig box, thinking she could be gravid since she was mimicking the same behavior as when she was gravid before (previously laid 12/1/20 and 2/22/21). No obvious physical signs though.

She seemed to lose interest in the box last week, so I took it away. It had been in there 24/7 for a month, so I figured if she did have eggs she would have plenty of opportunity to lay in that time.

Now that it's gone, she's decided she's going to just be lazy.
  • She's not lethargic and doesn't seem to mind me feeling her tummy or handling her.
  • No black beard, just general dark coloration since she's been in her hide where it's cool.
  • Reduced appetite for produce, but it's there if she wants it.
  • Still not feeling any lumps this whole time.
  • Not suspected to be impacted (she doesn't really show any interest in the substrate except to dig and there's nothing else likely for her to get impacted from).
I'm aware that in the wild they dig themselves a hole to brumate in over winter. Could she just be mimicking that instinctual behavior? Is it relatively normal behavior or should I be concerned that she's egg bound or something? What do you guys think?

I will continue to monitor her, but if she's wanting to brumate I don't want to bug her too much.

Thanks in advance!

(not sure if I should've posted in health or behavior, sorry)
 

mango_the_beardie

Hatchling Member
Beardie name(s)
Mango
i would take her to the vet bc she could be egg bound which basically means her body could've given up on the eggs or she doesn't have enough calcium to lay them or there stuck and if you leave them she could possibly pass so if you take her to the vet and they normally want a stool to check for parisites also if they tell you nothings wrong great! if they tell you shes egg bound they'll have to preform surgery and remove the eggs also make sure you weigh her everyday. so if she loses weight rapidly she has parisites and if she gains weight rapidly shes pregnant but if she gains like .2 or .1 or none at all in a day shes good
 

Oxymiocysu

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Original Poster
i would take her to the vet bc she could be egg bound which basically means her body could've given up on the eggs or she doesn't have enough calcium to lay them or there stuck and if you leave them she could possibly pass so if you take her to the vet and they normally want a stool to check for parisites also if they tell you nothings wrong great! if they tell you shes egg bound they'll have to preform surgery and remove the eggs also make sure you weigh her everyday. so if she loses weight rapidly she has parisites and if she gains weight rapidly shes pregnant but if she gains like .2 or .1 or none at all in a day shes good
She's been sleeping for 4 days or so now, so I'll wake her up today with a routine bath and check her weight. Maybe offer her some greens.

I'm assuming she was just getting ready for the big sleep, but better safe than sorry. I think I'll see if I can get her in.

Any other input on the matter? I'm curious if anyone else's dragons have done this in preparation for brumation.
 

mango_the_beardie

Hatchling Member
Beardie name(s)
Mango
She's been sleeping for 4 days or so now, so I'll wake her up today with a routine bath and check her weight. Maybe offer her some greens.

I'm assuming she was just getting ready for the big sleep, but better safe than sorry. I think I'll see if I can get her in.

Any other input on the matter? I'm curious if anyone else's dragons have done this in preparation for brumation.
no not mine my bearded dragon gets ready by pooing then scratching at the wall and goes to sleep
 

Oxymiocysu

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Original Poster
I woke her up yesterday and took her out. I gave her a solid 20-30 min bath with tummy rubs - no poo but she drank a bit. She weighed in at 582 grams. I gave her a slurry with squash baby food, vitamins and calcium, and some extra virgin olive oil to hopefully get things moving. She was very alert and active the whole time, which is good. No black beard or stress marks. Then she basked a little while before laying on her cool side.
I'll repeat the process again today to see if I get any movement from her. Here's to hoping she passes something. I'll give the vet a ring while I'm at it.
Here's what she was looking like yesterday while basking.
 

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Oxymiocysu

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Update - I took her to the vet for a check up and x-ray. Turns out she's showing signs of developing follicles and wants to brumate at the same time? The vet said that I should try to prevent her from brumating, as it could cause issues if she did decide to become gravid, but it's not easy. I've given her her lay box back, just to provide her the opportunity to lay if she feels like it.
I've also been feeding her a slurry and giving baths to promote a BM but she still hasn't passed anything. There were no signs of impaction on the x-ray.
Edit - She's not lethargic, she responds to touch and pays attention to what's going on when she's awake. She's just sleepy right now.
Should I let her brumate, or try to keep her awake? How risky is it to let her do what she wants? What are the odds there could be complications?
Tagging @AHBD and @Drache613, I hope that's okay. Maybe you could provide some insight or suggestions.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Did the vet actually say , to quote , " she's showing signs of developing eggs " ? If so, did they mean that the follicles are showing on the xrays because that would either be that the vet sees the follicles on xray or they didn''t . Can you post pics of the xray. ? It does sound like she just wants to brumate.
 

Oxymiocysu

Member
Original Poster
Did the vet actually say , to quote , " she's showing signs of developing eggs " ? If so, did they mean that the follicles are showing on the xrays because that would either be that the vet sees the follicles on xray or they didn''t . Can you post pics of the xray. ? It does sound like she just wants to brumate.
I believe her words were something to the degree of "it looks like there may be follicles on the x-ray, but they're not very developed", not a direct quote though. I will post the x-ray as soon as they send it to me.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Yeah I can see what might be the outline of small eggs developing near her back ribs, sort of the size of pinto beans.
 

Oxymiocysu

Member
Original Poster
That's what I thought. So should I prevent her from brumating? Any tips?

And how can I get her to poop? It's been over a week at this point.

Also what are the grainy looking blobs in her mid section? One along her spine and one on the right?
 

Badwolfe

Hatchling Member
I'd say if they were anything to worry about your vet would have commented on them.

Good news is her bone structure looks good so I highly doubt theres any calcium problems there
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Just let her carry on as she wants to. If she becomes ill looking [ black beard, laying around out in the open ] then you should take her back to the vet. Her not pooing for a week is no concern at all, that's not a long time.
 

Oxymiocysu

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Excellent, thank you. I'm glad to hear her bones look good, the vet was supposed to go over her x-ray with me but never did. She didn't comment on bone density/structure so I figured it was alright.

For her it's normal to go at least 2x a week. Should I be feeding her normally (greens and roaches) or continue with the slurries (baby food squash, calcium, and a dash of olive oil) until she does poo?

I'm just a bit paranoid as I'm unsure if she ingested the lay box substrate (coconut fiber and play sand mix) given she was in there very often and maybe that's what's slowing her poos down. She's never expressed any interest in actually eating it, though.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
You can feed her a little of both, but mostly the slurries and greens to help her poo. A warmer than usual soak can help as well.
 
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