Hello everyone!
So I have an older female dragon who will be 13 in April. She is definitely female (confirmed by several herp vets throughout her lifetime. I've also had a peek myself and she looks to be a she). I've known this since she was quite young, so I've always prepared myself for the possibility that she might lay eggs, but she never has.
However, in the past week she has been super restless. My timeline of events is a bit sketchy, but here is the jist of it:
Beginning of December:
Voracious appetite, 2+bowls of salad per day and many bugs (crickets, hornworms, superworms, butterworms). Basking lots. Very happy lizard.
Middle/end of december: Will hardly touch salad; will still eat bugs; remains alert and perky; less basking; she appears to have gained some weight around the middle; digging and glass surfing+++ (which is sometime placated with my taking her out of her tank and letting her chill out or run around for a while, but sometimes she will have none of it and just wants to freak out no matter what).
When this new behaviour began there had been no changes to her environment whatsoever. A few days ago we set up a new larger terrarium for her which she seems to like (thinking that maybe she wanted more space), but her odd behaviour remains.
About a week ago I was feeling around her belly for eggs, but didn't notice anything. This evening when I checked her out I felt 1 or 2 nodules around her lower abdomen which were not there a week ago. She had a good sized bowel movement just before I examined her, so I don't think it was stool.
She has a small amount of play sand in her enclosure where her hide is (she likes to dig at night to get comfy), but she has never consumed any. Her bowel movements have been perfect this entire time.
I just gave her a bath and she is glass surfing again. Sigh. About a week ago I went to home depot to set up a laying box for her just in case. She has been there about an hour a day for approx 4 days and has had no interest digging in there. I just today put a smaller box of peat/sand in her enclosure to see if she liked that better. This evening she sat in there a bit, but didn't do any digging.
What do you guys think?? I was very sceptical re: her being gravid when this behaviour started (thought she might just have had to poop), but it's persisted and now I'm concerned. What's going on with my old lady??
So I have an older female dragon who will be 13 in April. She is definitely female (confirmed by several herp vets throughout her lifetime. I've also had a peek myself and she looks to be a she). I've known this since she was quite young, so I've always prepared myself for the possibility that she might lay eggs, but she never has.
However, in the past week she has been super restless. My timeline of events is a bit sketchy, but here is the jist of it:
Beginning of December:
Voracious appetite, 2+bowls of salad per day and many bugs (crickets, hornworms, superworms, butterworms). Basking lots. Very happy lizard.
Middle/end of december: Will hardly touch salad; will still eat bugs; remains alert and perky; less basking; she appears to have gained some weight around the middle; digging and glass surfing+++ (which is sometime placated with my taking her out of her tank and letting her chill out or run around for a while, but sometimes she will have none of it and just wants to freak out no matter what).
When this new behaviour began there had been no changes to her environment whatsoever. A few days ago we set up a new larger terrarium for her which she seems to like (thinking that maybe she wanted more space), but her odd behaviour remains.
About a week ago I was feeling around her belly for eggs, but didn't notice anything. This evening when I checked her out I felt 1 or 2 nodules around her lower abdomen which were not there a week ago. She had a good sized bowel movement just before I examined her, so I don't think it was stool.
She has a small amount of play sand in her enclosure where her hide is (she likes to dig at night to get comfy), but she has never consumed any. Her bowel movements have been perfect this entire time.
I just gave her a bath and she is glass surfing again. Sigh. About a week ago I went to home depot to set up a laying box for her just in case. She has been there about an hour a day for approx 4 days and has had no interest digging in there. I just today put a smaller box of peat/sand in her enclosure to see if she liked that better. This evening she sat in there a bit, but didn't do any digging.
What do you guys think?? I was very sceptical re: her being gravid when this behaviour started (thought she might just have had to poop), but it's persisted and now I'm concerned. What's going on with my old lady??
