Not eating.Paniced.Digging-FINAL UPDATE w PICS

[bmb527]

Girl knows what she wanted!!!
Bill

 

[Ethelia]

The bulb in the 2nd pic is either a "basking" bulb, which is mainly for heat, or it could be a Mercury Vapor Bulb, which is the best type of bulb you can get.
As for your beardie, go get a large rubbermaid tub, by large, I mean at least 2 ft long, 1 ft across and 1.5 feet tall. Go to petco and get some stuff called "eco earth" or something similar. Prepare it per the instructions on the packaging. Put the product in the rubbermaid tub, about 10" deep or so. Insert your lizard, install lid. Check every 8 - 12 hrs. when your lizard is skinny again, put her back in her normal home. PM me, or re-post here and we can help you with the eggs. They can be fertile as Beardies can "store" sperm until the time is right. My female layed fertile eggs 8 months after being removed from the male! Hope this helps.
Bill

My whitebulb is the Merc bulb and the red bulb is the heat regulating one (it kicks in every now and then when the heat dips)

Im from the UK so we dont have any PETCOs here. Nor any large decent pet stores which are familiar with lizards, all I have in my area are small independant reptile stores.
What else would work other than eco-earth?

 

[bmb527]

It is just a dried, compressed coconut fiber that you re- hydrate by soaking in water. You could check with a plant supply place, or use a mixture of potting soil and vermeculite. Just make sure it is moist, but not soaking wet. Put a heat light on the tub to keep the mommy warm as well as heat the soil to keep the eggs warm. Do a search on how to incubate bearded dragon eggs. They are fairly easy to deal with. I will be here to help in any way I can.
Bill

 

[wizbee]

Yep, make the lay box asap and she'll be fine as soon as she lays the eggs. Congratulations!

 

[Ethelia]

Thank you all!
Will be driving to the store to get everything she needs this morning.

One last question though.
How long to I leave her in her laybox until i know she is or isnt holding eggs?
I dont want to keep her in there for days if it turns out she's not holding eggs!

Holly x

 

[Ethelia]

ok ive made her a momma box.
made it out of a huge shoebox (for now until i can find something better) and peat/coconut fibres.
it has a small door in it so she can get out if she needs to.
problem im currently having is keeping her IN there.
she'll stay in. then come out and start digging. and then i put her back in.
do i just constantly put her back in?


Just want to know how long i should leave her in there until i know if she is or isnt going to lay eggs?

 

[bmb527]

By "shoe box", how big are you talking? She still needs a bit of room to turn around and dig. If you could, try to post a picture of your lay box. I would leave her in there for a day or 2, just keep the box in a nice warm place.
Bill

 

[Ethelia]

Its for boots so its about one foot wide one foot deep and about 2 and a half foot long.
She has plenty of room to turn around in.
I know its not ideal but I was just make-shift until I can find a decent container
(so far i havent found an appropriate one in the stores ive visited).

Should I not be giving her the option of coming out?
I was advised to put in a small 'door' so she wouldnt panic.
Considering she's digging madly in sand should i fill the box with sand insted?

 

[bmb527]

As long as the substrate you put in there is moist and lightly packed, so it won't cave in as she digs to lay her eggs. I have left my girl in the box for 3-5 days before she laid eggs. They have to get used to the new surroundings for a bit. It will be obvious that she laid, she will be quite a bit thinner, and she will be pretty dirty from digging down to the bottom of the soil. I hope this helps you out a bit. For the box, I just went to Wal-Mart and got the 2 nd from the largest that they had.
Bill

 

[Ethelia]

Thanks so much for all your help.
I'll be patient and keep popping her back in.

and thank you for your advice on the box but Im a UK girl so we dont have any wallmarts ^_^
ive been to a couple of places so far and have a few more to check thisafternoon!

 

[bmb527]

I wouldn't put her in and out, just put her in and leave her. Check in on her a couple times a day. Providing things are warm and all, she should lay within a day or 2.
Bill

 

[Ethelia]

Thanks so much for all your help.
Finally found one!

She has a deep layer of soil and ive put one of her little shrubs in there to make her feel at home.
She's not digging in their yet. She still seems a little cross at the whole situation.

Not a great angle at all.
but she's sat in the middle of the box with about twice her length again to move around in.
The box is about about a third of her normal viv size.
Also ive propped the lid completely open at one end. Is this the right thing to do? or is it no lid under the heat bulb?

 

[bmb527]

I usually had the box on the floor by her cage. I put the lid on and left it on so she could not get out. Sooner or later, she would lay and bury her eggs. When I noticed that my girl was done with her thing, I would put her back in her normal home. Here is a link to a thread in the breeding forum: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=91243 it seems to have some good info. Just kind of look over the breeding forum and see what some others are doing.
Bill

 

[Ethelia]

Thank you so much for all your help.
I dont know what I wouldve done without all the advice.

I will keep you updated daily on my little one.

 

[Ethelia]

Great link thank you!

Night one:
No digging in her laybox yet (although she got out and started diggin in her viv sand once).
Still seems displeased at her surroundings!