De-sexing my beardie

[The-Freak]

Ok money isnt an issue as im not looking to go desex her tomorrow. I have no problem separating them if need be or what ever. I only ask as the thought crossed my mind, I want to explore my options. If keeping her with the boy and not hatching the eggs doesnt pose risk to their health then I like that option if they can be separated and that doesn't pose risk then I like that option. I have read that a female can have problems alone though which is why I ask. I didnt know their sex when I got them, and its still not 100%. I understand where you guys are coming from saying I shouldn't punish them to convince me, but honestly I'm not looking to desex her cause I'd rather spend my money on something else rather then a new enclosure should separation be the best option - hell buying my animals new toys and what not is self indulgent to me anyhow haha.

on a side note, solar 17, id love to get desexed, that I do not have the money for =p. And water rat, that didnt even cross my mind O.O, Im sure my vet will inform me more when I talk to him. But does anyone know of females having ovarian problems?

[dragonlover1]

I have read that a female can have problems alone though which is why I ask.

But does anyone know of females having ovarian problems?

Hi I don't know of any problems,I have 5yo F who has never bred(her BF died in a heatwave a couple of years ago)but last year she laid some slugs(infertile eggs) which led me to finding out her sex as I had always assumed she was a he. Anyway she now has a new younger BF,call her a cougar if you will.

[eipper]

I wonder what the legal side of things is. Can you legally have such operation performed on a native wildlife just for the keeper's convenience? I don't want to compare desexing to removal of venom glands in elapids but ......

Michael,

I agree....but removal of pin bones in bird wings is apparently fine, or is it because its a native bird and birds are kept by normal people.....reptiles on the other hand are kept by weird animal smugglers that should all be hung,drawn and quartered

Cheers,
Scott

[Defective]

the answer is simple....let her lay the eggs and just put them in a bag and freeze them for a week before throwing out. the freezing kills the cells that allow a baby to grow in the egg, if you just chuck out the eggs a rubbish bin on a warm day makes a perfect incubator and the ramifications of having 12-20 eggs hatching at a dumpsite with no food or water is just too terrible to think about... my girl Isis laid eggs before i sold her and all i did was freeze them for a week.

[maddog-1979]

if you dont want hatchies, dont keep pairs together, i wouldnt risk any kind of operation on a reptile if it is not needed. if you do get eggs and dont want to incubate, then feed them back to the mother to recoup her lost energy. if you throw them out, i highly doubt they will hatch at the tip, a couple of hours after laying the yolk settles to the egg shell, any movement after that can detach the yolk and kill the egg.

[Renenet]

I wouldnt risk any kind of operation on a reptile if it is not needed.

I totally agree. There are risks involved in surgery, no matter how competent the surgeon or how safely it is done. So it comes down to a risk-benefit analysis.

As I understand it, the OP is mostly concerned about the potential for female beardies to develop problems with reproductive organs if they don't breed. Depending on how high the risk is of developing problems, and how severe they could be, there might be a case for desexing. I don't know enough about it to say anything more, but it's an interesting question that I, too, would like to get some more information on.

[dragonlover1]

i wouldnt risk any kind of operation on a reptile if it is not needed

I totally agree ,I wouldn't submit any creature (or human) to unnecessary surgery

[Twitch_80]

Kind of an interesting thread.. We do it to dogs and rabbits etc, clip birds wings, but it seems wrong for reptiles. Im not sure what my opinion is but Ill be checking in on this one.

[Skelhorn]

why not give the eggs to someone who will want to hatch them?

[stimigex]

why not give the eggs to someone who will want to hatch them?

Why bother as there are far more beardies produced than the market can handle now!

[ToadCountry]

To the OP.
Ovarian issues are rather advanced jumping the gun?
I'd be more worried about calcium intake, a varied diet, good husbandry, sufficient UV, and impaction before I considered ovarian issues in a Beardie.
Kind of a weird question.....but you would firstly, have a compromised animal, and pay hundreds of dollars for a work-up that supported the removal of ovaries.
JMO.

[The-Freak]

I am concerned with all of what you said but have it all sorted and they seem happy and healthy which I guess is why I started to wonder more about this. From what I have read ovarian problems are just a possibility for a non breeding female.

I will probably just freeze the eggs if the breeder I know doesn't want them. If I have to seperate them and ovarian problems occour I will just tackle that then. .

[Becceles]

This is an interesting thread.

It is true that we do it for almost all household pets, of which these beardies are. But I guess also that not all your normal household pets lay eggs. It is also strange to think about de-sexing the female over the male, which one would assume would be a much simpler surgery and one that is normally chosen over female de-sexing. However, in the 'normal' situation the female wouldn't be potentially faced with health issues over not reproducing or laying slugs.

So I suppose you need to consider if you wanted to breed them at any point in the future. You might not want to now, but if you go ahead with it you can't change your mind in a few years time.

I'm interested to hear how many other people are thinking of doing this.

[moussaka]

I've never heard of this ovarian problem situation...is this actually a thing?

[ghosts]

Its good to see more people don't think they have to breed their reptiles (to get their money back). Breeding reptiles doesn't make you any better or more capable of keeping reptiles. People need to realise they are pets.

Like everyone has said just remove the eggs or split the pair up.

I think breeders need to stop pressuring people into buying pairs. I see a few breeders lately that will only sell in pairs. I'm not having a go at anyone these are just my thoughts.