beardy wont lay

[neven]

hey guys
my beardy is very pregnant and i have noticed her starting to dig around the cage. so as usual i put the tub of dirt in there for her to lay in it but she keeps diggin a hole then stopping and not laying in it. and im pretty certain shes gotta lay really soon as when i picked her up like you could almost see a egg coming out. i have looked since and it just looks normal but im worried some thing will happen to her if she holds them in too long.

the dirt is moist and she has laid 3 clutches in the dirt before so i dont see what the problem is. any thoughts?
nev

 

[NoOne]

If she has laid in it before then just give her time, beardies will sometimes dig quite alot of test holes before actually laying.
Just leave her alone in the quiet and she should be fine.

 

[Matty_2004]

Make sure you don't mess up her territory/enclosure or start touching and moving things around. Just let her do the maintenance and renevating and i'm sure she'll lay just like the times prior to this clutch - as long as you are certain that the temps, etc have not be altered.

She dosen't look any different or ill at all does she?

 

[neven]

nah shes lookin fine and still full of energy... still hasnt laid tho
nev

 

[Matty_2004]

Weather might be messing her about a bit.

 

[insectovor]

Bearded dragons can hold their eggs for months until they think it is time to lay, however if you notice that your female is VERY lethargic I recommend visiting a vet. This could be a sign of egg bound. For now I would not worry too much.

 

[earthmother]

Yes, I'd just watch for her losing condition and slowing down, that could be egg bound and requires a vet. Otherwise she'll lay when ready.

And, don't think she hasn't dug around more than you think, they are masters at refilling and smoothing out the soil. I watched 1 female of ours laying - came back in 10 minutes and it was like she hadn't started. lol. She was looking at me like - -"Yes? Lost something? I know nothing".
She'd laid 32 eggs and covered them perfectly.

Remember to feed her up after the clutch.
Let us know when the happy event occurs

Em

 

[Magpie]

I'm getting a bit worried about my female angle head, very very gravid and no sign of digging test burrows or anything.
For the lizard inclined.... How do you tell if a lizard is egg bound? She is still eating a LOT.

 

[NoOne]

The fact that shes eating alot would suggest that she still has developing eggs, once females starts looking to lay they will show no interest in eating and they become restless.
It would take considerable stress to force a female to become egg bound, i have never had it happen and i have only ever spoken to a couple of keepers that say they have.
Not providing nesting sites can cause them to become egg bound, but most will drop eggs on the cage floor before that.

 

[Magpie]

Cool, thanks for that, I am more of a python person than a lizard guy, but I love my angle heads. I just know that pythons can become egg bound fairly readily.

 

[NoOne]

Years ago when i kept Jacky dragons i didn't know i had a male and female, i checked they one morning and found a nice little clump of 6 eggs on the cage floor, i had no idea what to do with them(i was only 12) so they never hatched :cry:

What sort of nest sites are you giving her? Most dragons are very similar when it comes to nesting behavior it's just what they look for in a nesting site that is different.

 

[Magpie]

She's got about 100mm of coir on the floor, covered with leaves and a tub of moist vermiculite about 200mm deep.

 

[NoOne]

I find with the more "coastal dragons" that live in areas of relativity high humidity that they love moist peat moss mixed with a bit of sand.
I wouldn't bother with the vermiculite as it would be good for digging/burrowing, it would cave in, i also wouldn't cover it with leaves.

What is coir? Never heard of it.

 

[Magpie]

Coir is those expanding bricks of coconut fibre, only the coir is covered in leaves as that is their normal substrate, it looks good.

 

[neven]

she is pretty active howeva she has also stopped eating so im guessing she is ready... she dug a proper hole yesty but got to the edge of the tub n stopped diggin... so i thinks shes just pissed off and doesnt want to dig another hole lol... she has had other attempts but gives up after about 10min and wont dig any more...
if she does lay on the cage floor will this mean the eggs have no chance of hatching or what?
nev

 

[NoOne]

I wouldn't worry about that but if it did happen there should be no reason why they wouldn't hatch, if she has laid in the same tub before then she will again, just let her be and don't disturb her.

 

[earthmother]

We had a Beardie who laid 30 eggs and 3 weeks later laid 18 more, I wasn't prepared for her to lay so she laid them in her cage - and protected them! She couldn't cover them, but the other Beardie in the cage lost a claw for going near her and the eggs. (ahem, after the eggs had been moved mind you).

The trick here is to not to turn the eggs as you move them. If you can move them in the 1st 24 hours,
the turning of them isn't considered damaging. After 24 hours the membrane can be damaged.

Em

 

[neven]

shes diggin today... but she keeps reaching the end of the bucket... which is a fairly big hole... normally she would lay just before reaching the end of the bucket... and i cant put a bigger bucket in bcos it wont fit...
i think sheel give up and just lay at the end of the bucket though.
nev

 

[neven]

hey guys she finally laid... yay... 20 eggs... how ever one was left on the top of the dirt pile and has now turned a like browny colour... reckon it will survive?
thanks for your help guys
nev

 

[NoOne]

Well done on the eggs mate best of luck with them.
Put it in the incubator, you'll soon know if it's good or not, it may just have color from the dirt.