Spike Laid 5 infertile eggs!

[RoachKill]

Got back from being out of town a week. And found 4 (infertile) eggs in the cage. I had no idea she was gravid. I have a course sawdust about 3" deep as a substrate (I know, I know, but for once this was a good thing because she had something to dig in.) and the eggs were buried in that. My landlord had been caring for her while I was gone and threw one egg out, thinking it was poo. That made the total egg count = 5. Spike is like 7 years old and has never done this before. A year or too ago she weight 580g and hasn't appeared to change grossly. Is there any follow-up besides a stern lecture on not wasting one's calcium?
I am in the Vancouver area and I don't have a great vet.

 

[Gail]

You should probably give her a lay box with damp soil in case she needs to lay more, 5 eggs is a small amount for a clutch. Make sure she is hydrated and a good body weight. Of course, give extra calcium.
If she gets eggs bound then you will have to locate a vet. Watch for excess straining and lethargy.

 

[RoachKill]

I have the same concern since 5 eggs is a pretty small clutch and I don't think she was thrilled with the sawdust substrate since it is too free flowing to tunnel into.
The lay-box is a good idea. It can't hurt.
I suppose that there is no trick to feeling for more eggs...
And she's not eating, but that may be because I was gone for a week and her cage was at 20C.
Otherwise she seems to be OK. No nasty discharges. She drank the night I got home while in the bathtub.

 

[RoachKill]

Made up a lay-box a couple of days ago. She was not interested. Today when she was patrolling the garden, she would lick the ground and not the vegetables. Then she circled around a 1 foot area and started to dig. The ground was kinda hard, it was cool and raining a bit - so I brought her in an convinced her to dig in her lay-box. She dug for about 2.5 hrs and fell asleep around 9PM. I would like to leave her there but it's not heated. I think I will borrow a heat lamp from her viv.

 

[RoachKill]

This morning at 8AM she has a bulge at her vent about the size of a small grape. I think she slept in the cave she dug out and I getting back to work this morning. I think she has buried the hole she dug. it's hard to see because I installed a "roof panel" over the hole so that even if the soil collapsed she would still have a cave. More digging sounds..Yep. She's done. Washed her up, she had a drink and back into her viv.
Ok we have 5 eggs. Will check for more.

 

[RoachKill]

All her eggs a dented in like they are only 70% full. Does this mean anything?

 

[RoachKill]

Vent area still enlarged. Was showing some mucus membrane and had some substrate on it. Stuck her in bath she drank and got cleaned up. Ate a tiny amount of apple. Won't eat worms. No mucus membrane showing in vent area now. Think I will remove substrate from viv and use paper towels for a few days.

 

[RoachKill]

OK, she laid 5 eggs in the Lay-Box 3 days ago. Today I was walking with her in my had about 1/2 mile and on the way back home her vent area protruded so I set her down thinking she had to poop. Nope. I get home and stick her in the tub to wash off dirt that got on her vent area. She soaks a bit, and then wants out. I pick her up and PLOP! AN EGG! Now she is just sitting in her viv looking fine. Is this a weird kind of present?

 

[RoachKill]

No way! just found and egg in her viv. It's pretty dried up, must be a couple of days old..That makes 12.

 

[RoachKill]

What is this, egg-arrhea? I come home from work and she has laid 3 more eggs on towel. Wait there's something sticking out of her vent. I gently pull - a half dried egg! Her vent area quickly flattened and she ate 3 supers and drank water in the tub. Total eggs = 15