The Popcorn and Tatty and Their Eggs Thread: Also new Babie

[rkdkp]

Question... I have a Beardie who we thought should probably have laid a week ago. She isn't really digging or anything, but my hubby and I both work during the day. Should we put her in her lay box during the day and then when we get home put her back in the viv if she hasn't done anything? I don't want her to have her eggs in the viv, but at the same time, we don't have UV in the lay box. What is our best option at this point?

 

[Tatty]

I would give her a daily chance to lay in the bin. My dragons have always laid in the evening or early night. Every single one of them. You can try that method. Put her in the bin when you get home from work. Also, is she in any distress. Egg binding is a situation you have to be alert for. If she is lethargic and/or acting painfully/straining I would encourage you to get her to a vet. Sometimes they resorb eggs, but you want to safeguard against more tragic consequences. They can help her if she needs help. Just see how she acts. Please let me know. :?

Tatty

 

[rkdkp]

No, she's acting fine. Walking around, eating normally, she ate 2 pinkies last night. We want to make sure she has plenty of food and energy for the eggs. She is absolutely HUGE and you can see the eggs portruding from her sides. She seems to be doing well. We haven't seen her poo, so I think I am going to try a bath tonight. Since we have only had her for about 2 weeks, I didn't want to do anything more to really stress her out more than she probably is. Thus, the reason why I think it's taking her so long to lay the eggs. Do you think a bath would stress her out too much or would it relax her? I don't remember if we have given her a bath since we have had her yet, due to the stress and the babies. (remember, I am the one that had the Beardie play dead on me after his first bath from us).

The only thing that doesn't look quite right is that she is pale like she is getting ready to shed. Her eyes are the normal orange around them, but the rest of her head and body is pretty white.

 

[Dakotachristy84]

i saw you egg photo's they all look great. Our dragon had her 4th cluth but it's our 1st clutch with her. the other 3 were with my cousin in law. the first clutch were infertile, 2nd he messed around with to much he didn't know. learned from the mistake. with his 3rd clutch he got 19 eggs and 16 hatched. well i had the bds since aug and she laid her 4th clutch in dec. i was a little worried at first they started to fall in but then i read to add moisture and cover them. so i did that and they recovered. i've been checking them ever since. i am worried that they are a little discolored. i saw your eggs and they look the same way. so i am not worried as much. their heater is set at 84 and holding steady. they were hatched dec 18. i held one up to a flashlight and saw some red veins running in the egg but that was about it. i didn't really get a good look. i am suppose to see more then veins at this point?

 

[Tatty]

For Rdkp:

It sounds like your girl isn't eggbound. She doesn't have the classic signs. Let her give you the clues. It is kind of like waiting for a woman in labor. She will know when it hits. Believe me!!!....They WILL get restless and pace and dig when laying is imminent. Every one that has ever deposited egss for me whether fertile or infertile has done this.

Tatty

 

[Tatty]

For dakotachristy84:

Congratulations! I have found that beardie eggs go through numerous color changes due to embryonic respiration and thinning of the shell. The membrane must thin as the egg grows for the baby to slit it and hatch. It may look pinkish, bluish, or grayish in places. After three years of successful clutches, as long as they aren't molding and deflating you are doing fine. I intend to candle mine so you can so the development in the ones that are going on 5 weeks along. I keep my temperature on exactly 84 degrees.

Tatty

 

[rkdkp]

She was more restless trying to get out of her viv yesterday. That's why we decided to put her in the lay box today. When we checked on her in the laybox last night, she looked like maybe there was a little digging, but couldn't tell for sure. I will let you know what happens when we get home tonight! 4.5 hours and counting down until I can check on her.

 

[Tatty]

For rkdpd:

This sounds like an experimentation phase. She isn't quite ready. She is just "thinking" about it. When they are really ready to do the job, they won't lose interest. It is like they are on a mission. She will dig, dig, dig, to China then she will go into what I call a "trance" where she is absolutely transfixed and will be intent only on popping them out. Once you see the "look" in her eyes, you will know. Most of the action, however, seems to happen in the evening. If you read different websites, bearded prefer afternoons and eveinings to lay eggs, although there can be exceptions to everything.

Tatty

 

[Tatty]

This is a distance shot of one of Tatty's Eggs that were laid on November 30th. If you look closely you can see the venous development. Note that the general hue of the egg is pinkish and the egg is quite swollen with an area of thinness and stretching which is somewhat semitransparent in the area of respiration moisture absorption. Notice the dark area, this is the developing embryo. I detected movement in response to the light. What a miracle! They are already sensing their environment.

If we zoom in even closer, the development is more obvious. The dark spot "moves" in response to light and is the developing baby beardie. I will provide weekly photos of development in both eggs and probably by the next week, you might even begin to see the tail and tiny limbs. What a true miracle!

This is just a random egg I selected from Tatty's New Years Eve clutch of 19 eggs. You can see the network of blood vessels. Please note that the egg has a more yellowish cast rather than pink. That will change as it develops. The circular red spot is the embryo. If your beardie lays fertile eggs, you can candle them and see this spot immediately. This is the spot we talk about keeping upright in the incubator. The reason you don't turn your eggs is that it can disrupt the embryo and cause it to drown in its own fluids. When the beardie lays these eggs, the eggs are deposited with the spots facing upright. The first infertile egg I get, I will photograph for this thread. Every single one of these 42 eggs in this incubator is fertile with a developing embryo.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you want to ask about the eggs.

Tatty

 

[Tatty]

It is important to note that incubating beardie eggs can be a long and arduous journey. Some unfortunate people lose an entire clutch late in the process of development. There are an imminent number of reasons: Perhaps the eggs were jostled too much, perhaps the temperature was too low and the beardies died because development was halted, perhaps the temperature was so high that the beardies died because respiration wasn't efficient enough to keep up with their needs. Their could be toxin in the substrate, mold could have affected the substrate and "killed" the eggs, their could be a defect in the developing embryo's, the owner could have provided too much moisture or not enough, the owner may have killed the eggs by directly spraying their surface with water, their could be fumes from some type of disinfectant or insecticide in the room, etc. Never spray eggs directly with water. The substrate should be damp but never wet. If one egg starts to mold separate it from the rest so it doesn't touch the others. Never turn the eggs. Do not handle them excessively. Do not use any type of chemicals or substances which produce fumes around the incubator. I hope you find this thread interesting. It comes directly from my own personal experiences with Popcorn and Tatty. Believe it or not, I had about 5 years of failure with another beardie before I ever had a success. When you have your first success and see those tiny eyes, you WILL be ecstatic.

Tatty

 

[protiemama]

I am SO looking forward to your future posts on this site. This is the kind of science class Katherine LOVES!
She will say it's too interesting to be school. The learning value is so great, thank you, thank you a thousand times thank you. What a great way to start the semester. We will have to use pictures in books to compare other egg laying animals. It is ,after all, not nesting time for most egg layers around Tn. :lol: I wonder if there would be anywhere to get simular picts of platypus eggs as they develop? Katherine is just facinated by the thought of an egg laying mammal, me too. Oh dear, I'm rambling. Tired I guess. Gotta go change the lesson plans. 'Nite

Sandy H

 

[starsurfer109]

Thank you so much for the information. The day after Aruora laid her first clutch we went out and bought the incubator and all the other materials we'll need for the months to come. The clutch of 15 don't look so good right now and we're worried about loosing them but at least now we know almost everything we need to know. I really apprieciate your helpfullness. I did have another question though. Do we need to add more vermiculite as we go, and do we need to mist around the eggs?

Thanks so much,
Kaitlin

 

[Tatty]

For Sandie H:

I am glad you are enjoying this.. I am not sure where you would get a picture of platypus eggs? There will be ongoing posts on this site as developments occur and beardies go through egg laying cycles.

Tatty

 

[Tatty]

Kaitlin:

If you have enough vermiculite to bury the eggs halfway, you should be ok. I never misted anything. All I did was add water out of a glass to the substrate and incubator channels.

Tatty

 

[Ethelia]

Oh Tatty those pictures are wondeful.
Im so excited to watch them grow. I do hope you will keep taking pictures like that for us.

Holly