New development with my girl! Help plz!

[JenFid]

Hi everyone!

So my female, Daedalus (misnamed by her original owner) started acting a little odd today. She is normally a very active dragon who is always wanting to be out and about, exploring the house and whatnot. Today though I noticed she was constantly digging in her favorite blanket, obviously not doing the dig to get comfy and nap. A little later she was walking around on the floor and would lick lick scratch, move a little bit, lick lick scratch, repeat, which seemed really odd, I've never seen her do that before - we've only had her since last August.

So I read Cheryl's post here about egg laying, and it seems to me Daed has been giving all the signs of wanting to lay eggs (crazy about getting out, refused her FAVORITE food, horn worms, for a couple days). I got a tub and filled it with play sand, Daedalus wasn't having it though, she wanted out ASAP.

Here's the video I made of her doing some of the digging in the blanket. What do you guys think?

Oh ps - yes she's always that fat! So it's hard to tell for me if she has any in her, lol. And no, there was no breeding involved either.

 

[Beardednoob]

She definitely appears to be digging. Does she have a dig box ready? How old is she?

 

[JenFid]

We are not 100% sure on her age, but I believe she's around 2.5-3 years old, and her prev owner said she has not laid any eggs from the time he had her as a hatchling up until he gave her to us.

I did get a 66q tub and fill it with a few inches of play sand (fortunately we had both on hand!) but by the time I got it prepped she was done digging and ready for snuggling (aka she wanted nothing but OUT of the tub, lol).

This is the first day she has done any kind of digging activity. It sounds like she might do this for a couple more days before she actually needs to lay?

 

[Jayson745]

is the sand moist? also, sometimes they will dig for a while, then get tired/cold, and want to bask a while before going back to it. She sure looks like she is looking for a spot to lay.

 

[JenFid]

I haven't moistened the sand yet, I wanted to see if she was even interested first. Since I made this post she hasn't tried digging anymore that I have seen, she is still very restless though and always wants out.

 

[Jayson745]

usually if you hold her in one hand, and use the other to feel around on her sides you can feel them. The back half of her body, right in front of her back legs, and towards the sides, from the bottom.

 

[JenFid]

usually if you hold her in one hand, and use the other to feel around on her sides you can feel them. The back half of her body, right in front of her back legs, and towards the sides, from the bottom.

Edit: Ok I felt her tummy a second time, this time while she was sleeping I lifted up her tail and legs and felt that way...there are a couple larger lumps and I *think* I feel some smaller ones. It is hard to tell though.

Ok so, since I posted this originally, she still hasn't laid anything, still wants nothing to do with the dig box, but will still dig in the blankets if I set her down on them, and she's still really into running around/being restless during the day. She has gone off her food again and only ate one roach yesterday and a horn this morning, but refused anything a for a few days straight prior to that (extremely unlike her).

I also noticed that the fat pads on her head are pretty much completely depleted, but her tail still looks pretty plump. I think that is normal? She has also been straining to poo every so often and all that comes out is some liquid and the white part...but the white part is really small, almost like a ball bearing size, so too small for an egg right? Ok gross, I grabbed a left over one, here is a pic. Poo piece or shriveled egg (that is literally all that's come out the past couple times)?

I'm a little concerned for her, I know a lot of the behavior and depleted fat stores are normal, but I don't know what to make of the small poos (unless they make sure they're "empty" before laying?), and it's been so long since I noticed the digging, I thought it was only supposed to take 1-2 weeks from there, but we're into week 3 here.

Thanks for the help guys, Daed and I really appreciate it!

 

[RioReptiles]

Definately add more play sand to the box. Our females love to dig deep down in there. Also, dampen it, she has to be able to dig a tunnel that wont collapse on her. Also, you could add a clamp light to give her some warmth while she is in there.
If she's not eating much, then she wont have much to poop out, her body is using every bit it can get. Infertile eggs are hard to feel, but the indentations on her head are normal for a dragon getting ready to lay. Oh, and those are urates you've got there.

Keep offering food and make sure she stays hydrated. Also make sure to give her plenty of calcium, you could even get liquid calcium and mix it with her water.

 

[JenFid]

Thank you for the advice, Cheryl! She is doing better with food today, a hornworm this morning and 4 dusted superworms when I got home. I gave her a bath and she gulped some water down. She isn't as sulky today and has her happy colors on now.

I actually just got rid of my liquid calcium a few days ago because it had expired! Is there a chain store that sells that kind of stuff? If not I'll have to order a fresh bottle from you!

I'll get some more sand in the dig box and get it wet. I imagine it dries out after awhile, do you just keeping adding water to keep it the right consistency?