Digging

[thejets]

Lately Benny has been digging a lot. Not scratching at the glass because I already know about that, but actually furiously trying to dig at the tile at the bottom of her cage. She's done this before, but now it's getting more frequent. Is this something I should be concerned about?

 

[diamc]

How old is she? Has she seemed to gain wt lately? Sounds like she may be gravid.

 

[thejets]

She's around 14 months I believe. I don't know her exact age

 

[diamc]

She hasn't been with a male, has she?

 

[thejets]

No, never

 

[diamc]

Does she appear to have gained wt? How has her appetite and activity been? Has she been passing more urates lately?

 

[thejets]

I think she may have gained weight, but it's hard to tell because she just ate a huge meal, and she has been pooing more often than normal. She's been very active all day

 

[diamc]

Usually they don't still eat a lot of protein when getting ready to lay eggs though. But, they do become hyper and pass more frequent urates (minus the brown part). Might be a good idea to set up a lay box just in case though and to increase the calcium intake.

 

[thejets]

Ok, how exactly do you do that? This is very new for me

 

[diamc]

Make sure to give her calcium 5 days a wk if you had cut it back. For the lay box, you can use sand, vermiculite, bed-a-beast, etc. You need to put it in a plastic container that she can get in & out of & it has to be deep enough so that she can dig deeply, so several inches deep. It needs to be quite wet so that it will pack when you put it in your hands. Is her tank big enough for lay box?

 

[thejets]

Yeah, it should be. I'll see what I can find, I'm sure I'll have other questions!

 

[thejets]

Ok, so the sand I got is exo terra desert sand. It says no added dyes or chemicals and that it's suitable for egg laying. Should this work? How many inches of sand would you say I need?

 

[diamc]

That should be ok as long as she doesn't ingest it. I would say about 6" should give her a good amt to dig in. As I mentioned before, it has to be quite moist, almost wet and be able to pack together.

How did she act today?

 

[thejets]

Today she's been really inactive, but she doesn't usually get moving til later in the afternoon anyway. I'm putting in the sandbox now and I'll update you on her activity later today

 

[thejets]

She's been unusually inactive over the last couple of days and hasn't been digging at all. I put the box in there but she hasn't gone near it