Egg Incubation

[MizzMary]

Hey there,

My roughly 9 month old beardie has laid her first clutch. They used to be housed together via pet store advice awhile back. Since being on this forum and reading more about beardies, i obviously discovered that it was a no-go. So i purchased another tank and got her all set up on her own. For a long time she was really pudgy. I at first thought, oh she does eat alot so we sorta nicknamed her "our little potato" I kept checking her in her baths for signs of any eggs, none could be found. Untill three days ago when i was bathing her i did feel some very slight bumps near her center stomach. I then put my lay box together and popped her in the very next day and away she went digging like crazy. I also noticed a serious decline in feeding prior to her bath and me feeling slight bumps so research told me indeed she was egg bound. Now she laid 14 eggs. I dug them all out, I however cannot afford an incubator and im having a hard time finding a styrofoam box to redneck one for the eggs. I have however candled all of them bought some vermiculite and placed them "ring side up" in the vermiculite. They now are sitting in a tupperware with some ventilation, lid on and in the corner of her tank. Is this by some means cruel and stressful? The container is red, and kinda hard to see through to be honest. I've found that on the one side of her tank it stays a steady 82-83 degrees, her water dish is also on this side so im hoping for proper humidity? I'm really at a loss of what to do, only maybe 5 eggs seem viable. I also really cant afford to house 14 eggs/lizards assuming maybe they all are viable in the end. I've talked to my local pet store and they really don't seem interested in helping me out. If they hatch I would only want to keep one from her very first clutch.

Anyhow any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[AHBD]

Hi Mizzy, it's good that you separated the dragons, and no, she was never eggbound but was right on time for laying them. Being eggbound [ dystocia ] means they actually can not lay their eggs, and is fatal if not dealt with by a vet.

So....when you ask is this cruel, do you mean how the eggs are set up ? They will do perfectly fine at 82-87 in her tank. And BTW, if you only want 1 baby to hatch, just throw the rest away of the eggs away ASAP. If you put them in a freezer bag with water [ you don't need to freeze them ] they will die , they drown and can not develop even if slightly too wet .

Can you post pics of your dragon, her tank and the container of eggs ? Do you know that she might lay 2-4 more clutches ? Some beardies lay more but she's young + first time so it will probably not be anymore than that. Here's how to post pics:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

 

[MizzMary]

Hey!

Yeah sorry, i said eggbound mistakenly lol I was also worried about that issue and also her being bunged up while she was gaining so much weight. She looks rather large in the last photo still but she was sleeping and pancaking so she is considerably smaller than before. But i've been giving her some BSFL since and some wax worms to fatten her back up, also lots of water. I am aware she can continue laying. I was just worried about it being cruel to house her eggs in her cage so she can see them. I also do not want to freeze them or kill them to be truthful and if they do hatch and i have a bunch of babies ill find a way to sell/give them to a proper home. Is it possible to actually incubate them properly just in her tank like that? I have a probe termometer in the plastic container and its reading at 86.2 currently. I had a bad experience with an online purchase regarding her tank, I thought i was getting a 40G Breeder tank and something smaller arrived, was impressed so in the next month or so here ill be switching it up and selling this tank. My male is currently housed in a 40G breeder.

 

[AHBD]

O.K, she looks big + healthy there, just keep up with the calcium dusting as well.

It's fine to incubate them there but you'll want to cover the sides with duct tape or something as the hatch time approaches. If she sees the babies before you do she will think it's food and try to get at them.

 

[MizzMary]

She laid them August 21st so we have aways to go yet!, but thanks for the advise! I feel a lot better now knowing it should be okay. I just keep checking the temperature 3-4 times a day to make sure were not peaking over 90 because yeah never know. Its been pretty good though seems to stay mid point.