Non-bred beardie digging and showing laying behavio

[Ack]

My beardie is approximately 1 year old, give or take. I'm no expert but from looking at sexing guides online I think she's a female. For the past few days she's been absolutely frantic, running all over the enclosure, climbing and scratching at the glass, digging and shredding the paper substrate at the bottom of the enclosure. She's also making daily small bits of poop instead of a big one ever few days as she normally does. I've had her for 10 months and this is absolutely unlike her. From reading around online I think this means she has some eggs to lay. She's never been around any other dragons, so she can't be pregnant.

My understanding is that I need to set up a lay box for her to dig in and lay the eggs. Is this correct? Will she lay them without a place to dig if I just wait? The eggs will be sterile, so I just want to get them out of her safely. I don't care about keeping them viable or hatching them.

If I need to do a lay box, can I put a small container of sand inside her enclosure for her to dig in instead of doing a big separate container with a separate heat lamp as I've seen online? If so, what's the minimum size and depth that the "in-cage" dig box needs to be? My beardie is around 15" long.

Thanks for any help or advice you can provide!

 

[Tonja]

Females do not need to be around a male to lay eggs, its perfectly normal for them to lay. They will be infertile of course so you can just dispose of them. I have a lay box ready for Emily also as shes been digging a bit. I have a 20 gallon tote with moist play sand in it and its just moist enough to pack firmly and I started a cave type thing for her to finish and back into to lay if that's what she's relaying by digging as shes never done that before. I have a heat lamp over the lay box so she will stay warm..when she is not in her lay box..I keep it covered so it acts like a hothouse with humidity to keep the sand moist. The sand is about a foot deep and packed in except where I started her cave thing..that way she can dig it out when she is ready and wont have to really work at getting it out to her liking. hope this helps a bit.

 

[Ack]

I've put a 1 foot by 2 foot container filled with about 6 inches of wet sand into her enclosure. Think that will work or do I need to get a big laying box separate from her main enclosure?

 

[Tonja]

I would watch her and make sure she doesn't eat any of the sand...about the depth, you will just have to watch. I wanted my lay box separate from Emilys. Did you start a cave type thing for her..dig out a part of the sand and make sure its firm and wont collapse on her. Just wait and see what happens...also watch the humidity with the lay box in her tank. If the humidity gets above 30 to 40% you may have to take it out and just let her do her thing in it outside her tank.

 

[Vesuvius]

My female beardie is about 1 year and 4 months now, and she's showing the same behavior. I have a 30 gallon tank from when she was smaller I could use to set up a lay box. Can I use "all purpose" sand? I'm not sure what the difference is between play sand and other sands. I also have a curved half log I could use to help build a tunnel for her in case she is gravid. Is it better to get a box she can voluntarily enter and exit? It's been at least a week since she's eaten regularly and after reading other posts I'm a little worried that she needs to lay.....(or else)
Any suggestions would be very appreciated!

Thanks!
PK

 

[mortitia]

Hi

My beardie had her first clutch in her viv as I was unaware what was going on. For the next clutch I put a small container of damp builders sand mixed with some vermiculite, about 6 inches deep and 12 inches across. This box I put in the end of her viv and she went straight in, dug out the corner and laid the eggs there, She wouldn't stay in the box when it was not in the viv.

Hope this helps

Marie x

 

[Vesuvius]

I put 60 lbs. Of sand i got at a reptile store nearby and put it in a 30 gallon tank witj a basking lamp. She dug for a while but stopped.
She did not take any food today but started scratching at the glass when i got home. I took her out to run around a bit...she went steaight to the aoft white rug and pooped a small liquiditypoop. I will juat keep ttrying and see how it goes.
Sorry for the typos....am using my phone