Egg laying help please!

Bettleglint

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Godzilla and Mothra
I am in need of some advice. This might be long, sorry!
We adopted a female beardie on Saturday and unexpectedly she is full of eggs. I can see the eggs by looking at her belly.
The person who had her before let her and another of their beardies mate so I’m assuming these are fertile eggs, I don’t know if that makes much difference to how they lay them. He said she’d previously laid two clutches with no issue.

On Monday her vent was suddenly looking sort of swollen and I could see white. I put her in her lay box (it’s the box she previously laid in, the guy gave it to us) and she laid one egg. I left her in there and checked on her every couple of hours but she was just basking. I put her back in her viv with largest dig/lay box I could. During the night she laid two eggs just on the floor of her viv and laid two more early Tuesday morning. She’s been in her lay box but isn’t digging at all.
Each time she’s been out of the box I’ve reorganised it following YouTube tutorials in case she just didn’t like the box.

Should I be worried about her becoming egg bound and be trying to encourage her to lay?
Should I try a bath and putting her back in the lay box?
Could the move of home (she’s in the same viv) have caused her to start laying earlier than she should?
Am I disturbing her too much?
Everything I’ve read online says she’ll be digging to indicate she’s ready to lay, but she’s not at all.
She’s eating fine and drinking a little.

Everything I’ve done so far has been from looking online to find advice. I’m super stressed about getting this right.
I don’t know if she’s the healthiest dragon, she lived without any uvb lighting.
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Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
@AHBD
@Claudiusx
@CooperDragon
@Drache613
Have you got sufficient uvb over her yet? A T5 HO fluorescent tube uvb is what’s needed
Don’t know much about pregnancy but I do know the lay box is needed. Make sure it’s a lil moist enough to dig into and hold. Not so moist it’s creating a lot of humidity. She may or may not eat but if she does make sure it’s dusted a lot of calcium rich foods is needed and definitely the uvb. Hopefully someone will chime in and ease your mind on what to do next. They had her in no uvb man that’s messed up and letting it mate wth is wrong with people.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, if you can find a reptile vet ask if the y can get her in ASAP to give her a shot of Oxytocin which will induce egg laying. Otherwise she may just lay them a few at a time like she's doing but there is the possibility of problems . She is on the small side to have been bred but it's good that she's eating . The move would not have caused premature laying. Can you post pics of the laybox and her entire set up ? And yes, you can give her a short, warm soak .
 

Bettleglint

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Godzilla and Mothra
@AHBD
@Claudiusx
@CooperDragon
@Drache613
Have you got sufficient uvb over her yet? A T5 HO fluorescent tube uvb is what’s needed
Don’t know much about pregnancy but I do know the lay box is needed. Make sure it’s a lil moist enough to dig into and hold. Not so moist it’s creating a lot of humidity. She may or may not eat but if she does make sure it’s dusted a lot of calcium rich foods is needed and definitely the uvb. Hopefully someone will chime in and ease your mind on what to do next. They had her in no uvb man that’s messed up and letting it mate wth is wrong with people.
She is eating which I think is positive?
Yes I’ve got a uvb light, an Arcadia pro T5 that seemed to be recommended lots online.
I’ve also sorted her viv out as it was very grubby with random dead bugs in.

I also took on the male that she was bred with. They have their own vivs, don’t worry! I am obviously super new to bearded dragons but from the research I’d done I was upset to see their set ups.
Their diet has been poor. I was told they won’t eat greens, but both have so far!
I’m hoping I’ll be able to give them a better quality of life. Just out of my depth with the laying.

I’ll be taking them for a full vet check, I’m just a little reluctant to put her through that if disturbing her could be the issue.
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
yeah very sad, but you should feel good about what your doing! Good job on the uvb what % bulb did you get? Good job on eating greens vital part of beardie health is the greens. Good thing you came across them 😁
 

Bettleglint

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Godzilla and Mothra
Hi there, if you can find a reptile vet ask if the y can get her in ASAP to give her a shot of Oxytocin which will induce egg laying. Otherwise she may just lay them a few at a time like she's doing but there is the possibility of problems . She is on the small side to have been bred but it's good that she's eating . The move would not have caused premature laying. Can you post pics of the laybox and her entire set up ? And yes, you can give her a short, warm soak .

I think I’ve added a photo of her lay box and set up to my post.

The substrate in the box is 50/50 topsoil and play sand. It’s around 10 inches deep on the high side. I have lid with mesh over the top with a basking light when she’s in it. I just followed a YouTube tutorial. I don’t know if I maybe need a larger tub?

Her set up is what she came with, aside from the tub of sand/topsoil.
I know it’s far from ideal and I’ve placed an online order for more hides and a proper basking platform. I live far away from any pet shops, especially those that sell anything reptile related so have to wait for delivery. Any and all advice welcome.
Her viv also isn’t quite large enough so I will be buying a 4’x2’x2’ one, or larger as I have space for it.

I will get in touch with a vet and hopefully get seen asap. Thank you for the recommendation of what she needs!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Ooops, sorry, I saw the large pic of her but not the smaller pics. The enclosure is nicely done but watch out, many dragons will eat the fake leaves. Your laybox needs one thing, a lid with a corner piece cut out for her to enter. They like to feel as if they are in a safe cave out of view. If you don't have the lid that came with it , use a very thick piece of cardboard or other material as a cover and put a rock on top so it doesn't shift. [ Edited for typo]
 
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Bettleglint

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Godzilla and Mothra
I just wanted to say thank you for the advice, it was super helpful while I was so stressed.
I took her to the only nearby vet that sees reptiles. They X-rayed her and her eggs all look fine, not too big etc. She actually laid an egg mid x-ray! They phoned a reptile specialist who advised to see how she goes until Monday, as she’s alert, eating and generally seems well. If she hasn’t passed the eggs by Monday the local vet will give her Oxytocin. If that doesn’t work the reptile specialist will see us (they’re referral only). Obviously if she shows any signs of going downhill we’ll be straight back to the vet.
 

Jjurovaty

Member
Photo Comp Winner
Make sure she has a quiet calm, even less well lit area to lay, mine laid eggs a few times, she would only do it at night when there were no distractions and less light.
 

Longfellow777

Sub-Adult Member
Beardie name(s)
Frey'ja
I just wanted to say thank you for the advice, it was super helpful while I was so stressed.
I took her to the only nearby vet that sees reptiles. They X-rayed her and her eggs all look fine, not too big etc. She actually laid an egg mid x-ray! They phoned a reptile specialist who advised to see how she goes until Monday, as she’s alert, eating and generally seems well. If she hasn’t passed the eggs by Monday the local vet will give her Oxytocin. If that doesn’t work the reptile specialist will see us (they’re referral only). Obviously if she shows any signs of going downhill we’ll be straight back to the vet.
Very glad to hear. Keep us posted!
 

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