before a female can become "gravid" ( does that mean has eggs?) i thot (or hoped) that my beardy was a male, but all the signs point to a female. She has quite a drooping belly, similar to those dragons i have seen before they lay eggs...she is about 9 months...can she have eggs this early?
I believe they can, it depends on how quickly your beardie has developed and how fast she has grown.
Firstly is "she" in with another beardie?
It can be very dangerous for a beardie to have eggs much before she is 18 months old, with 2 years old being even better.
The usual signs of a gravid beardie in getting bigger belly, if you gently palpate her abdomen you should be able to feel them.
When they are almost ready to lay you will usually start to see the outline of the eggs inside her on her abdomen, she will start digging around the cage insesantly, that is when it is essential for you would provide her with a lay box, for her to dig in and lay the eggs.
It is usually quite easy to sex a bearded dragon, here is a link: http://www.repticzone.com/articles/sexingbeardeddragons.html
If it doesn't have bump, dimple, bump like in the pics, then it is a female! It's that simple.
Hope this helps, good luck!
no, my beardy hasnt even seen another beardy since she was a hatchling. im not curious whether they will be fertile, but if she does have eggs and i dont give her a place to lay, she can die right? thats what im trying to avoid. I will post pics...she developed rather quickly, she is 18+ inches at 9 months, (not sure of the weight) but shes a beauty.
no, my beardy hasnt even seen another beardy since she was a hatchling. im not curious whether they will be fertile, but if she does have eggs and i dont give her a place to lay, she can die right? thats what im trying to avoid. I will post pics...she developed rather quickly, she is 18+ inches at 9 months, (not sure of the weight) but shes a beauty.
Hello,
Ok, so your female is gravid with infertile eggs? Have you confirmed this through an x-ray at a vets? Or, can you actually see or feel the eggs?
I had a friend whose female had infertile eggs at 10 months. She did not lay them. Her body reabsorbed them because her hormone levels were not high enough for her to drop them through the shelling gland. So, the immature follicles were reabsorbed by her body.
I recommend going to get an x-ray to confirm whether or not she is gravid then we will direct you further.