Gravid female--What to do?

[remi1]

Hi everyone,
I have a question regarding egg-laying females and what to do for them. I'm not sure this is the right forum, I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but here it goes
Remi is 16-mo old, she brumated for the first time last fall for two months (Sept and Oct), and now she's been scratching like crazy to get out of her viv . Her eating has also been erratic and she has since lost 25g, though her belly is still quite large. I prepped an egg-box for her, an 18-gal rubbermaid container and filled it half-full of a mix of topsoil and sand. It's moist enough to dig holes that won't collapse. I took the lid, cut out the center and replaced it with screen. (I'm acting on the assumption she has eggs because when she had surgery last summer the vet told me she had follicles. The eggs would be infertile as she's never been with a male, though she drives the two boys nuts when she has out time and I forget to cover their vivs ) Anyway, I put her in there for a bit every day to she what she does, but she just tries to get out. I even started a little hole for her once and she ignored it. I put a small, flat rock in the corner and a basking light above that (I read that somewhere on this website) and she won't have anything to do with it. Assuming she does have eggs (who knows, she might not?), what should I be doing for her? My fear is that she will become egg-bound. I'm thinking about taking her to the vet and getting her checked out, get some xrays taken to see if she does indeed have eggs... should I? Or would it be unnecessary stress on her? I feel really lost, any advice would be welcome. Thank you for looking!

 

[koiboydavid]

How many days has she been scratching? Hang in there and keep putting her in the lay box.

Did you slope the soil mix at a 45 degree angle in the box? Pack it down really good and start a hole for her at the bottom.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

In the meantime soak her everyday in warm water.
Calcium every mean

 

[ColoradoRiverRafter]

I agree. Calcium is really important.

 

[remi1]

Thank you guys for the advice.

So she's been at this for a week and a half-ish. I've tried palpating her belly during her baths to see if I can feel any eggs, but I can't feel anything that I would immediately call eggs. I will definitely make sure she gets a bath everyday. (Normally she gets one every other)

I've been giving her as many phoenix worms (reportedly high in calcium?) as she wants and dusting her salads with calcium. She hasn't eaten any crickets for a while. Since she's not eating as much, I might start mixing babyfood with calcium and giving that to her. Do they normally change their feeding habits when they're gravid?

Thanks again. Argh, why is she tormenting me like this?

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

my girls eat like pigs right up till they are ready to lay, but everyone is diff.
what concerns me is that she is dropping weight.

 

[remi1]

I'll see what I can do about making sure she doesn't lose any more weight. I can start to feel her vertebrae and she is losing tail fat, at first I thought it was just an overactive imagination. Would I be wrong in thinking that she's losing some weight but the (probable) egg growth make the weight loss seem less?
I'll wait and see this weekend how she does and if things are the same or aren't better I'll call the vet on Monday, they're really good about getting me in that day or the next day.

Thanks!

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Ussually they put on weight while gravid. Thats what has me raising an eyebrow so to speak.
If you go to the vet take a fecal sample for testing.

 

[remi1]

Hey everyone,

So I ended up taking Remi to the vet last week. Between babyfood and a lot of coaxing with her feeders I managed to get her weight back up to what it was pre-brumation. Daily baths, ca with every meal. She even started to seem interested in her feeders. Then in the span of a couple of days she lost 25g, so I took her and an old poo sample in. The vet couldn't palpate any eggs and said the poo sample was too old (not eating = lack of a regular poo). But he wasn't concerned since she usually eats some of her greens and was alert and responsive.

Well, tonight when she had out time I saw her doing this:

And I though, hmmmm.... so I stuck her in her lay box (mind you every time I would stick her in her box she would give me the stink eye, something along the lines of "what the heck am I doing here?", and then fill up the hole I started in an attempt to get out). So this is what she did: (sorry for it being sideways)

I'm really confused now. Do the experts think she's gravid? How do I proceed? She dug for about 15min and then climbed out...

 

[spurlee01]

Hey Colleen-
I am right now going through the 2nd clutch of infertile eggs with my dragon, Lilly. We are getting Xrays Monday to be sure everything's okay, but I would recommend you get xrays or bloodwork to confirm that your beardie is pregnant. The first time I put her in a seperate lay bin. Since she didn't lay and ended up reabsorbing those, this time we put sand in her tank. I'm keeping her basking temps very close to 110* which I've heard can help. We are giving baths every day in the sink, with half water and half pedialyte to help her stay hydrated. She gets liquid calcium 5x per week as well. She was not eating well until I bumped her temps up (they were at 103*). If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I've made 4 calls today alone with questions that just couldn't wait lol, I know it's kind of scary when you aren't planning on it!
Sara

 

[pudden318]

i cant get the vids to work

 

[remi1]

Sara, thanks for the reassurance, and I agree, it is scary!! I'll talk to the vet on Tuesday and will see if I can get her in for some xrays. I'll try bump up her temps tonight, although they're already at 107.. Why do they do this to us?? She was so happy before all this started.


I'll try to link up the vids again, I feel pretty incompetent when it comes to these things. Let's see...

 

[spurlee01]

I'd say from her behaviors she definitely appears gravid!

 

[remi1]

Sadness, I was hoping she wasn't. She wouldn't by any chance just dig for the heck of it, would she? (lol, grasping at straws here)

 

[spurlee01]

It is possible. If I was you I really would go get xrays (and I am in your shoes and going tomorrow to get xrays lol).