PREGNANT OR NOT. I'M WORRIED

[Gtxollie1]

My girl is suddenly quite large, she is going back and forth in her tank, she is only pooping out urates and only when I put her in the bath otherwise nothing. She will only eat 1 adult locusts a day, she would normally try and eat more or would eat more but I only give her 1 a day usually, I felt lumps in her lower belly in the bath yesterday but I havnt been able to feel them since. She has been around a male. I have provided a lay box about 12inches by 18 inches with a slope of play sand however she won't dig in It, will she dig when she's ready as she hasn't in her Viv yet but she is jumping up walls and running around my room in search by looks. Also, she seems to be closing her eye that is facing the basking bulbs, do Travis beardies become sensitive and she twitches her head every now and then. Any answers would be great. I also have no access to vets.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, that is all normal behavior right up to the time they lay. Can you post a pic of her and a pic of the lay box ? Is the sand that deep or are those the dimensions of the laybox ? Here's how to post pics :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ The n use the XIMG to upload them

Sometimes if you start a " tunnel " for them by hand they will continue digging in that spot. She will lay when she's ready, nothing sounds out of the ordinary.

 

[EllenD]

How old is she? Were you trying to purposely breed her, meaning you know she's been mated? She may be carrying eggs, she may be impacted as well if you feel lumps, but if she's of age and you know she mated, and you see/feel lumps, then she's most likely gravid. I don't quite understand what you mean, is she digging in her enclosure? If so, start a tunnel in her lay box and let her in the lay box for a while with a basking light over her for heat. There are worries here that will certainly require an experienced reptile vet ASAP if found to progress...

The fact that she's only passing urates and her appetite has gone, combined with the pacing/galas surfing and restlessness is a serious worry, as she may very well be egg-bound, these are all symptoms of egg-binding. As long as she's restless I'd keep putting her in the lay box for a few hours at a time, and try warmer than average soaks periodically, but the moment she becomes lethargic or black beards she absolutely must get to an experienced reptile IMMEDIATELY or she'll die if she is in fact egg-bound. It's an extremely painful way to die, and there is no home remedy for it in bearded dragons, surgery is usually required to save their lives. So you will have to drive to the nearest reptile vet or 24 hour animal hospital, you have no choice if she is egg-bound. Euthanasia is much more humane in that situation than letting it happen. Hopefully she will lay her eggs with time in the lay box and warm soaks. AHBD bred dragons for years, hopefully he will respond with what he thinks and some ideas. I hope you are not breeding dragons without having access to an experienced reptile vet, as that's a very risky and potentially catastrophic situation to put yourself and your beardies in. Egg binding can happen to beardies gravid with infertile eggs too, so that's no one's fault, but if you have no access to a reptile vet for her, then please keep her away from all male dragons because egg-binding is just an agonizing way for them to die, I saw a breeder English budgie die this way, and I rushed her to my local 24 hour emergency animal hospital within 15 minutes of noticing she wasn't acting normally while laying on her already laid clutch of 4 eggs. The 5th one killed her, and I grew up in a bird-breeding home and have bred and hand-raised parrots for over 20 years, and there actually is some intervention you can do at home for birds, with beardies soaking them in warmer than normal bath water is about it. Be careful about massaging her tummy, as you don't want to break an egg inside her. If she is in fact impacted, as she is only passing urates, the baths will also help that as well, and you can try normal impaction protocol, like laxative slurries.

 

[Gtxollie1]

How old is she? Were you trying to purposely breed her, meaning you know she's been mated? She may be carrying eggs, she may be impacted as well if you feel lumps, but if she's of age and you know she mated, and you see/feel lumps, then she's most likely gravid. I don't quite understand what you mean, is she digging in her enclosure? If so, start a tunnel in her lay box and let her in the lay box for a while with a basking light over her for heat. There are worries here that will certainly require an experienced reptile vet ASAP if found to progress...

The fact that she's only passing urates and her appetite has gone, combined with the pacing/galas surfing and restlessness is a serious worry, as she may very well be egg-bound, these are all symptoms of egg-binding. As long as she's restless I'd keep putting her in the lay box for a few hours at a time, and try warmer than average soaks periodically, but the moment she becomes lethargic or black beards she absolutely must get to an experienced reptile IMMEDIATELY or she'll die if she is in fact egg-bound. It's an extremely painful way to die, and there is no home remedy for it in bearded dragons, surgery is usually required to save their lives. So you will have to drive to the nearest reptile vet or 24 hour animal hospital, you have no choice if she is egg-bound. Euthanasia is much more humane in that situation than letting it happen. Hopefully she will lay her eggs with time in the lay box and warm soaks. AHBD bred dragons for years, hopefully he will respond with what he thinks and some ideas. I hope you are not breeding dragons without having access to an experienced reptile vet, as that's a very risky and potentially catastrophic situation to put yourself and your beardies in. Egg binding can happen to beardies gravid with infertile eggs too, so that's no one's fault, but if you have no access to a reptile vet for her, then please keep her away from all male dragons because egg-binding is just an agonizing way for them to die, I saw a breeder English budgie die this way, and I rushed her to my local 24 hour emergency animal hospital within 15 minutes of noticing she wasn't acting normally while laying on her already laid clutch of 4 eggs. The 5th one killed her, and I grew up in a bird-breeding home and have bred and hand-raised parrots for over 20 years, and there actually is some intervention you can do at home for birds, with beardies soaking them in warmer than normal bath water is about it. Be careful about massaging her tummy, as you don't want to break an egg inside her. If she is in fact impacted, as she is only passing urates, the baths will also help that as well, and you can try normal impaction protocol, like laxative slurries.

Thanks for the info, AHBD has already responded saying it's fine, I didn't mention that that the company of a male was brief like a 30 min visit. She is also showing no pain and in fact her beard is very very orange but thanks for the info.

 

[EllenD]

Lol, AHBD actually beat me to it! I'm glad you consider this all normal behavior just before laying, as I raised my male for almost 13 years, but my current female is only 10 months old, so I have zero beardie egg-laying experience and a ton of bird egg-laying experience, and they are very similar, but very different at the same time, if that makes sense.

AHBD, question that I have for your expertise: With birds that are carrying an egg (they generally only have 1 egg inside them at a time, as they lay one and then "manufacturer" the next one, and lay it a day or two later, generally a bird clutch is staggered over a week or two, and hatched in the same order, so all bird siblings are different ages, with large clutches having a drastic difference in age and appearance/developmental stage they are in), it is normal for the bird to have very large, messy poops before they lay the egg inside them. However, if the bird has any issues with having a bowel movement, like it cannot have one at all and is straining, or it passes only very small pieces of urate or fecal matter, it is generally a sign that there is a problem, such as egg-binding, a ruptured egg, or a second egg developed too quickly for the size of the bird and they are carrying too many at one time, causing issues laying either of them...Is this true with beardies as well? I'm assuming not necessarily, since beardies carry an entire clutch at one time normally.

 

[EllenD]

Yeah, just an FYI, as it's still very possible that it can happen now or in the future, and if you have no access to a reptile vet I would think twice about breeding her. Egg-binding is a very real problem that all people with a female beardie need to be educated about, and even if this is normal behavior for her just before laying, which I also indicated that I too assumed it was in my first post, egg-binding can happen at any time, and there is absolutely nothing you can do at home to help them. As someone who has seen the agony an animal goes through with egg-binding, I try to educate EVERYONE with a female beardie about how serious it is, what the signs and symptoms are, the fact that it can happen at any time during the laying process, and what needs to be done if it does happen. So ease, be very observant during the laying process, and again, if you see any sudden lethargy or black beard do not hesitate in getting her to a reptile vet IMMEDIATELY.

 

[Gtxollie1]

Hi there, that is all normal behavior right up to the time they lay. Can you post a pic of her and a pic of the lay box ? Is the sand that deep or are those the dimensions of the laybox ? Here's how to post pics :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ The n use the XIMG to upload them

Sometimes if you start a " tunnel " for them by hand they will continue digging in that spot. She will lay when she's ready, nothing sounds out of the ordinary.

That's the lay box with the basking bulb, i just measured It, it's around 14inchs by 23-4 inches. Hope this helps

 

[Gtxollie1]

Yeah, just an FYI, as it's still very possible that it can happen now or in the future, and if you have no access to a reptile vet I would think twice about breeding her. Egg-binding is a very real problem that all people with a female beardie need to be educated about, and even if this is normal behavior for her just before laying, which I also indicated that I too assumed it was in my first post, egg-binding can happen at any time, and there is absolutely nothing you can do at home to help them. As someone who has seen the agony an animal goes through with egg-binding, I try to educate EVERYONE with a female beardie about how serious it is, what the signs and symptoms are, the fact that it can happen at any time during the laying process, and what needs to be done if it does happen. So ease, be very observant during the laying process, and again, if you see any sudden lethargy or black beard do not hesitate in getting her to a reptile vet IMMEDIATELY.

I'm not planning on breeding her we just had someone over who we thought was a girl for just a stop bye but maybe not ?

 

[Gtxollie1]

The sand is 9 inches deep and 5 inches straight back as it is a slope as I was told to make it that way

 

[AHBD]

Yes, some females will just pass small poos right up until laying day, some don't. And they usually eat like hogs and suddenly stop abruptly, then the mad pacing + digging starts.

Signs of eggbinding would be a beardie going from all this activity to suddenly very lethargic, just laying in one spot with possible half closed or closed eyes, probable black beard and just looking very sick.

So the frantic running around is them looking for the" perfect " spot to lay the eggs. Sometimes even with a nice lay box they end up laying them in the tank or somewhere else. One member here had a dragon lay eggs on her [ the owners ] stomach while she ws snuggling with her !

As for your laybox , it looks good but you might try piling the sand high up on one side, then digging the tunnel as if it's the side of a hill. If the tunnel collapses you can eve get a large shoebox [ or similar box ] and cut one end out, set it in the sand as her tunnel and pile it half way with sand. Then when she digs the sand out the box will keep her tunnel from collapsing.

 

[Gtxollie1]

Yes, some females will just pass small poos right up until laying day, some don't. And they usually eat like hogs and suddenly stop abruptly, then the mad pacing + digging starts.

Signs of eggbinding would be a beardie going from all this activity to suddenly very lethargic, just laying in one spot with possible half closed or closed eyes, probable black beard and just looking very sick.

So the frantic running around is them looking for the" perfect " spot to lay the eggs. Sometimes even with a nice lay box they end up laying them in the tank or somewhere else. One member here had a dragon lay eggs on her [ the owners ] stomach while she ws snuggling with her !

As for your laybox , it looks good but you might try piling the sand high up on one side, then digging the tunnel as if it's the side of a hill. If the tunnel collapses you can eve get a large shoebox [ or similar box ] and cut one end out, set it in the sand as her tunnel and pile it half way with sand. Then when she digs the sand out the box will keep her tunnel from collapsing.

I've got one ready I thought I'd just try it without first and I've made it a slope too

 

[AHBD]

Yes, your laybox looks pretty good, she may dig right in. Or decide to drive you crazy for a while yet.

 

[Gtxollie1]

Yes, your laybox looks pretty good, she may dig right in. Or decide to drive you crazy for a while yet.

Yep ?

 

[Gtxollie1]

Yes, some females will just pass small poos right up until laying day, some don't. And they usually eat like hogs and suddenly stop abruptly, then the mad pacing + digging starts.

Signs of eggbinding would be a beardie going from all this activity to suddenly very lethargic, just laying in one spot with possible half closed or closed eyes, probable black beard and just looking very sick.

So the frantic running around is them looking for the" perfect " spot to lay the eggs. Sometimes even with a nice lay box they end up laying them in the tank or somewhere else. One member here had a dragon lay eggs on her [ the owners ] stomach while she ws snuggling with her !

As for your laybox , it looks good but you might try piling the sand high up on one side, then digging the tunnel as if it's the side of a hill. If the tunnel collapses you can eve get a large shoebox [ or similar box ] and cut one end out, set it in the sand as her tunnel and pile it half way with sand. Then when she digs the sand out the box will keep her tunnel from collapsing.

I've got one ready I thought I'd just try it without first and I've made it a slope too

You know how you said"they look for the perfect place", would she need to come across it her self in order for her to know it's ok or will it be fine with me putting her in, because this only stared a day or two ago, and when I put her in she tries to get out and then continues pacing once she is out. Just a thought

 

[AHBD]

No, she will be fine going in there. That will be her only option and 90 % of the time they decide that it is the perfect place when they have to get down to laying.