First infertile eggs at 8 months old

[Daryl]

My beardy unexpectedly produced 18 infertile eggs 5 days ago. She is only 8 months old. Since then she has become very inactive and her right rear leg looks slightly swollen at the hip and is limp. I fear it is dislocated as on several occasions I have found it twisted around the wrong way. Could this be a due to the fact she passed 18 eggs and she's still only half adult size. She shows no signs of pain as she quite wilfully lets me touch it when I handle her.
Can anyone shed some light.
Daz

 

[AmyUK]

I can't help I am afraid but here is a bump 2 get u closer to the top!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Daz,

Are you providing adequate UVB lighting & calcium supplementation? Wow are you sure that she is only 8 months old? I have heard of females laying at 8 months but it is not very common.
That will most definitely affect her, & can zap her calcium levels very quickly since she is still growing! If you are not using calcium on a regular basis, you will need to be. Maybe even consider getting some liquid calcium to help her levels get up to par more quickly.
Is she eating anything right now? Is her beard black at all?

Tracie

 

[Daryl]

Hi Tracie, my mistake she is 9 months but thats still pretty young. We live in Alice Springs so she spends most of her time outside in the sun, the weather here needless to say is perfect for dragons. But when she's inside I use a mercury vapour lamp. I have started dusting her crickets with Reptivite since the lay. Her appitite has improved in the last couple of days. At the moment she is eating anything that moves ie crickets, woodies, mealworms, moths and small beatles, but she rufuses to eat greens of any kind. My main worry though is the leg. She still chases down her prey aggressively but she won't use the right leg. If it is a dislocation do they pop back in naturally or does that require attention.
Her beard is a little black at times but not much.

Daz.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Daz,

Are you talking about Alice Springs, Australia then?
Which brand of mercury vapor bulb are you using then? How many times per week do you use calcium supplementation? Perhaps she hurt herself a little biti when she was digging to lay her eggs? That has been known to happen to some.
I doubt it is dislocated probably just strained a little bit. You could try to lower her basking spot a little bit so she doesn't have to climb as much to avoid hurting her leg any more right now. Just remember to adjust the distance of the light for her too so her temperatures will remain optimal also.
I am glad that she is eating pretty well right now, that should help her out quite a bit!

Maybe you could post a picture of her?

Tracie

 

[Daryl]

Yes, Trace, Alice Springs Austalia. Sorry bout that.
The brand of light is Exo Terra Solar Glo 125w. It is a sun simulating lamp so it produces UVA,UVB, heat and light all in one. It is only about 5 months old and it only gets 3 to 4 hours a day so it should still be OK I reckon.
I dust her crickets every morning although thats only been for the last 4 days. Do you think I should give her all the insects she can eat or is that discouraging her from eating the greens. She also hasn't pooped for a few days which may not be helping and yes she was digging for ages before she laid (at that time we thought she was a he and HE was acting strangely).
I will try to put a photo of her up if I can.
Cheers Daz.

 

[Daryl]

I didn't mention, although you probably worked it out, the globe is a mercury vapour globe.
I can't figure out how to post the photo. Do you know what to do?

 

[Drache613]

Hello Daz,

Lucky you, Alice Springs sounds awesome!
The Solar Glo MVB is fine then I know exactly what it looks like no problem. Just go to photobucket.com & upload your pictures to there. Then, just copy & paste to here. It is very easy.
So she gets natural sun as well as the Solar Glo?
So is she eating anything today? Well, she is still growing, so you do need to give insects, but try to get greens into her as well. If she is hungry she will eat some greens then you can feed her insects. She could lay another clutch too so keep that in mind as well. I hope not, but, it would not surprise me at all.

Tracie

 

[Daryl]

Hey Tracie, Alice is the best place to live.
She does get both, natural sun and some lamp. Today she finally had a couple of brocolli leaves, not much but its a start.
The leg appears to be moving slightly but it is still swollen. I uploaded to photobucket and copied the photos but they won't paste on here for some reason. Still trying.
Daz

 

[Drache613]

Hello Daz,

You are so lucky, I have seen a few pictures of Alice Springs & it is beautiful there. In my next life, my hubby & I will live in Australia!
She must have injured her leg laying eggs possibly. Just try to make sure she is ingesting enough calcium to help replaced what she has lost with her eggs & in case she might be developing more follicles as well.
It sounds like she is getting adequate UVB exposure with her outdoor sunlight & her MVB lighting inside, no problem there.

Keep trying with the pictures. Here is a link that might help you:

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=37103

Hurry up & post those pictures! LOL
Oh do you have a Vitticeps or a Barbata?

Tracie

 

[Daryl]

G'day Tracie,
Here's a link to the pics, best I could do.(my wife helped me I'm a computer Dodo):
http://s851.photobucket.com/albums/ab73/Daryldragon_2009/
I think you're right, she has taken off today with the bad leg. Still swollen but at least its moving again.
I mixed meal worms with her salad today and that worked pretty well. She also had a dragon hotdog (mealworm in a green bean, my own invention).
Daz

 

[Twobeardieguy]

If I can recommend one thing, try not to feed your beardie meal worms as they are hard for your beardie to digest! good luck..