Gravid Netted Question

[Jaycw]

Once a female netted has become gravid how long is it before she lays generally?...One of my females is suspected to be gravid , she has developed a couple of really nice buldges over the past few weeks (her feeding patterns did not change , if anything shes been eating less) she has been digging little holes all over her enclosure for the past few days .... when shes not digging shes laying flat on her basking rock..... i put in a container of wet sand to see if that was to her liking , although shes walked through it a cpl of times but didnt even try any holes , shes seeming to dig right at the hottest point of the enclosure as well.... is there anything I can do to help her out? or it is just a matter of waiting it out and collecting her eggs wherever she chooses to drop them??

 

[Shannon]

Congrats - it definitely sounds like she's getting close. I've found it's generally around three or four weeks gestation depending on the temps. Once sure fire sign she's ready to lay is refusing food. Once my females refuse food I take them out of the enclosure and put them into a decent size contained filled with just damp sand and put the lid on (with air holes of course). I have taped the sides and lid to make it quite dark in there so she feels secure and I basically leave her for a few hours and check every now and then. Sure enough they eventually start digging to the bottom and lay then cover it back up.

If my females don't lay after three or four hours in there I will put them back in their enclosure and try the next day. Sometimes I also make a small divot in the sand, like the start of a tunnel and often they'll use it to start their own.

Hope that helps and best of luck. Make sure you have plenty of water, food and warmth for her once she's finished.