My innocent "babies" just mated..... HELP!! :)

[binger]

My beardies just came out of brumation 2 weeks ago, and had been displaying signs of aggression towards each other. I'm currently in the process of trying to acquire another terrarium to separate them....

Since this is my first year being a beardie slave, I've been learning as I go along.

This morning, I watched my big male jump off his basking spot, and climb onto my sweet little girl!!! :shock:

So now that they've mated, I'm concerned about their living arrangements.
Should I be putting a sandy area in for her to burrow into? (they currently have a nice stone tile floor)
Should I change her heat/diet/supplements?
What should I expect over the next month or two?
I have no idea what to do with her, or with her eggs once they're laid.

Anyone with experience, please help! :lol:

 

[Ethelia]

Hello there,
If he just climbed on top he might not have managed to mate.
To mate the male will need to bite onto the back of your females neck and scooch his "junk" underneath her tail, so the tails look like twoclasped hands, sort of wrapped around eachother.
You can search on youtube for it, there are lots of videos there.

If it doesnt look like he "got all the way" you will still need to seperate them.
Once they reach sexual maturity and start to mate you need to get them separated.
If you see from the videos mating is not a pleasant experience for your female, and left to his own devices the male will just go at her non stop.
Overbreeding can seriously affect your females health, let alone her stress levels.
You cant watch them 24/7 to keep them apart so I would recommend splitting the viv with a cardboard screen until you can get a new home.

If she does become gravid you would need to seperate them anyway, the first clutch is stressful for the females and it would be long and drawn out with a male in there with her.

I cant say how long it will take before you know, females can store male specimines inside them for months before they feel ready to produce eggs.

The signs to watch out for for a gravid girl are:
Weigh gain.
Swollen belly.
Drop in appetite.
Frantic pacing/restlessness.
Digging.

Digging is your great big red warning light that says "im gonna be a momma"
Only then do you need to worry about a laybox.

You only need to change supplimentation and diet after laying, upping the calcium and protien that she depleted whilst laying.

I know its not easy to say "dude just seperate them" but when it comes to mating there are serious health issues to consider.
How old is your female?

Holly

 

[binger]

Hello there,
If he just climbed on top he might not have managed to mate.
To mate the male will need to bite onto the back of your females neck and scooch his "junk" underneath her tail, so the tails look like twoclasped hands, sort of wrapped around eachother.
You can search on youtube for it, there are lots of videos there.

If it doesnt look like he "got all the way" you will still need to seperate them.
Once they reach sexual maturity and start to mate you need to get them separated.
If you see from the videos mating is not a pleasant experience for your female, and left to his own devices the male will just go at her non stop.
Overbreeding can seriously affect your females health, let alone her stress levels.
You cant watch them 24/7 to keep them apart so I would recommend splitting the viv with a cardboard screen until you can get a new home.

If she does become gravid you would need to seperate them anyway, the first clutch is stressful for the females and it would be long and drawn out with a male in there with her.

I cant say how long it will take before you know, females can store male specimines inside them for months before they feel ready to produce eggs.

The signs to watch out for for a gravid girl are:
Weigh gain.
Swollen belly.
Drop in appetite.
Frantic pacing/restlessness.
Digging.

Digging is your great big red warning light that says "im gonna be a momma"
Only then do you need to worry about a laybox.

You only need to change supplimentation and diet after laying, upping the calcium and protien that she depleted whilst laying.

I know its not easy to say "dude just seperate them" but when it comes to mating there are serious health issues to consider.
How old is your female?

Holly

Thanks for the quick response!

I was just trying not to be too graphic He got his mouth around her neck and cocked himself around her... they were all intertwined. He stayed for about 3 minutes, then left...

They were rescues, so I don't know much about their exact age (or if they're from the same clutch), but I'd say they're about a year and a half old...

They're both in a 4x2x2 wooden enclosure now, and I've got a 40 gallon aquarium that I could put her into to separate them... I just don't have a second UV source yet, so that's my big concern. I could likely order one from the local store, but it could be a week.

Just before writing this, he got her into a corner, bit onto her neck, and tried again.... She's sitting with me now, looking a bit pissy about the whole experience.

I can cycle them from one tank to another (to ensure they're both getting the UV), but I don't want to cause them any unnecessary relocation stress, until I can get another Repti Sun or MVB.... any thoughts?

 

[Ethelia]

Hi there,
Ah. Looks like the little man... er... got the job done!
Considering he is already trying to bother her again they definately do need to be separated as soon as you physically can.

In terms of UV in the 40gal a dragon can happily go a week without UVB without any detrimental affects to their health.
If you are really concerned (depending on your scedual) you can give the female a bath + cuddle for 2 hours and during that time you can put your male back into the viv to grab some UV. It isnt necissary to do that every day, but every 2 days without the UV id put him back in for a couple of hours.

If you are going to seperate them into the 40gal I would move the male.
At this stage its better to leave your female be than stress her out by rotating them round and round.
The female is going to need all the UVB and calcium absorption herself whilst she may be developing those eggs.

Your other option is dividing the tank until you get your UV.
a 4x2x2 is about 120gals if im right, in which case I would just put up a cardboard divider down the center to physically keep them seperate.
Pop another basking bulb in your normal "cool end" and you should be fine.
If there is only one UV source at one end you can rotate the dragons every 2 or 3 days as I mentioned earlier. This shouldnt stress your girl out as she is still in "her home".

Holly

 

[binger]

UPDATE: I've managed to seperate them for now. She's in my old 40gal tank with a brand new MVB bulb. I'm having trouble getting the temp to 100, right now it's about 91F... I'm going to raise the basking spot, but I can't raise it too much because of the minimum 12" distance for the bulb... SO FRUSTRATED!

She's not out of her hide yet this morning, I assume it's relocation stress.... we'll see how she's acting over the next couple of days.

Our male is acting a bit pissy today, too... I'm left to wonder if it's because they've been together since they were babies... could Beardies get lonely? We'll watch to see how he's doing....

Am I the only person who stresses THIS much over their babies??

 

[Ethelia]

She may just be frightened yes, if she doesnt come out to bask tomorrow Id remove the hide during the day.
Hmm if you need to up the temps you can just add a household bulb next to the mvb, a low one though, maybe a 40 or a 60. That should do the trick.

Dragons really dont tend to form bonds, but what they do hate is change. He probably just realises something is different so is throwing a strop.
Some dragons are so sensitive to change they will sulk even if they're viv is slightly reorganised.
Also dont forget you took a lady dragon away from a horny teenage boy :laughhard:

Holly