carolinelucy
Member
Hello!
I was just hoping for some advice from more experienced bearded dragon owners.
I have two lovely beardies that I rescued, both about 5 years old, they lived in pretty neglected conditions. They are housed separately. The female, Moana, is due to lay her monthly infertile eggs. She is at the point where I am pretty sure I can feel them, eating mountains and desperately trying to scout out a nesting area.
This leads to my first question / predicament. She is so restless, which I know can be normal because she wants to find her perfect nesting area, however; I have set up her lay box (exactly how a topic on here said to do) She doesn't like it. All she does is desperately try to escape and climb out and claw at the walls. So i put her back in her tank and she does the same. I know this is probably because she isn't quite ready to lay yet (especially as she is still eating and hasn't lost her appetite yet). Unfortunately i can't just let her run around the house like she would want to due to a couple of Labradors who are a little too interested in her and places that I know she would probably climb under = bye bye beardie! My question is: is it better to keep her in the nest box or her vivarium at this point? She is stressed in both and doesn't seem to know where she wants to be.. I just want her as comfortable and stress free as possible..
Second question.. due to the poor condition they were in when I got them they were both underweight. I am a veterinary nurse (NOT an exotic specialist though!) so I am lucky that I can take them to my work regularly (my vets are not exotic vets but know enough, unfortunately the nearest exotic vet specialist is about 1 hour away) I managed to get my male completely sorted and he is so chunky and beautiful now. My female is still quite slim though, I am obviously concerned because she does not seem to put on weight like my male. Her situation was not helped by the fact that the old owner kept them together and so the male was continually mating her and she was continuously laying which took a lot out of her nutrition and energy. Now she lays her infertile eggs about once a month and every time i seem to get her looking filled out, she lays and becomes very skinny again. I try to encourage her to eat the more fattening grubs e.g. wax worms but she just loves her locusts too much and won't settle for anything that she can't chase around her enclosure like the hunter that she is. I also give her baths with critical care in the water, this is basically just a nutritional supplement that I got from my work that is safe for use in reptiles. Am i being an overly worried beardie mum? Do other peoples females lose this much weight when they lay? Is there any diet tips that people could give me?
Sorry for it being such a long winded post. I am very grateful for anyone who could give me some further information. Thank you! I will try and attach some pictures of her (if she stays still long enough to let me).
I was just hoping for some advice from more experienced bearded dragon owners.
I have two lovely beardies that I rescued, both about 5 years old, they lived in pretty neglected conditions. They are housed separately. The female, Moana, is due to lay her monthly infertile eggs. She is at the point where I am pretty sure I can feel them, eating mountains and desperately trying to scout out a nesting area.
This leads to my first question / predicament. She is so restless, which I know can be normal because she wants to find her perfect nesting area, however; I have set up her lay box (exactly how a topic on here said to do) She doesn't like it. All she does is desperately try to escape and climb out and claw at the walls. So i put her back in her tank and she does the same. I know this is probably because she isn't quite ready to lay yet (especially as she is still eating and hasn't lost her appetite yet). Unfortunately i can't just let her run around the house like she would want to due to a couple of Labradors who are a little too interested in her and places that I know she would probably climb under = bye bye beardie! My question is: is it better to keep her in the nest box or her vivarium at this point? She is stressed in both and doesn't seem to know where she wants to be.. I just want her as comfortable and stress free as possible..
Second question.. due to the poor condition they were in when I got them they were both underweight. I am a veterinary nurse (NOT an exotic specialist though!) so I am lucky that I can take them to my work regularly (my vets are not exotic vets but know enough, unfortunately the nearest exotic vet specialist is about 1 hour away) I managed to get my male completely sorted and he is so chunky and beautiful now. My female is still quite slim though, I am obviously concerned because she does not seem to put on weight like my male. Her situation was not helped by the fact that the old owner kept them together and so the male was continually mating her and she was continuously laying which took a lot out of her nutrition and energy. Now she lays her infertile eggs about once a month and every time i seem to get her looking filled out, she lays and becomes very skinny again. I try to encourage her to eat the more fattening grubs e.g. wax worms but she just loves her locusts too much and won't settle for anything that she can't chase around her enclosure like the hunter that she is. I also give her baths with critical care in the water, this is basically just a nutritional supplement that I got from my work that is safe for use in reptiles. Am i being an overly worried beardie mum? Do other peoples females lose this much weight when they lay? Is there any diet tips that people could give me?
Sorry for it being such a long winded post. I am very grateful for anyone who could give me some further information. Thank you! I will try and attach some pictures of her (if she stays still long enough to let me).