3 Year old feamle laying her first clutch. What should i look for?

[878cassthl]

Hi,
I have a 3 year old female central bearded dragon who has just started to lay her first clutch. I found 4 eggs on sunday (25th sept 2011) at approx 2pm. It has been two days and she has not since laid any more. I can easily see and feel eggs still in her tummy and am not sure what to do. I have given her fresh mounds of desert sand and removed the other lizards from the enclosure to allow her some peace to lay. She spent most of yesterday just digging and spent the night on her basking log. should i be worried??? and what should i look out for? is there anything i can do to coax her into laying???
I'm worried about egg-binding.
Cass.

 

[crocdoc]

You'd be wise to be worried - she should have laid all of the eggs at once. What temperature is the sand where she's been digging? Does it clump enough to maintain a hole as she digs, or is it loose and keeps refilling the hole while she's digging?

 

[878cassthl]

The sand is fairly warm, approx the same as the enclosure as the heat mats under it help to maintain the warmth. and yes some of it does tend to slip back in, though she is able to maintain a decent sized hole. do you think i should dampen the sand slightly to ensure it stays clumped?

 

[crocdoc]

I'd dampen the sand slightly (but slightly) to ensure it stays clumped and would also get an exact temperature of the sand. Was the nesting area always available or something you put in after you noticed she was gravid?

 

[878cassthl]

i shall do that once i get home from work. what temperature should the sand be? the nesting area was placed in on saturday. the day before the first eggs appeared.

 

[crocdoc]

The sand should be pretty warm - 28-30C

Putting the sand in the day before the eggs appeared is probably the cause of the trouble. Lizards like to know ahead of time where they're going to lay their eggs.

 

[DazTopEndPythons]

you need to tip a fair bit of warm water onto the sand so it will stand up when she is digging , if you need some help pm morgan_dragon tonight she has been breeding beardies for a few years now and knows most of the tricks

also how deep is the sand ? and is there anything in the way of her digging at the warm end of the tank ?

 

[Wally]

The sand should be pretty warm - 28-30C

Putting the sand in the day before the eggs appeared is probably the cause of the trouble. Lizards like to know ahead of time where they're going to lay their eggs.

Spot on.

Here's a link to a thread with a couple of photos I posted on a laying box. As crocdoc has already said, it's placed in the enclosure in advance of laying so she won't stress about having somewhere suitable to lay. I place it in the cooler end of the enclosure and aim for temps around the 30deg mark also.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/herp-help-38/beardied-dragon-laying-eggs-set-167613/

 

[878cassthl]

Thanks so much to all of you!!! this has all been alot of help to me!!!!
She has finally decided to lay her clutch and has laid 24 beautiful, healthy looking eggs which i have just placed into an incubator with the Vermiculite mixture. =D

PROBLEM!!!!!! Just found 4 new eggs today. they are smaller than my first female's clutch which she laid yesterday and i had removed. i cant tell which of my females they came from as there are once again three in the habitat and none of them are showing signs of being pregnant. what should i look out for??