help!! bearded dragon egg care

[mclar55]

Ok so my local pet shop told me my bearded dragon wouldnt lay eggs for another 2-4 weeks but this morning woke up to 28 eggs. What do i do. Im not prepared. What temperature should they be at. At the moment they are on dirty until i go buy Vermiculite. are the eggs suppose to have dints in them. They look like they have sunk.

 

[LiasisKing]

from what i have read, if they arn't white and "full" looking, then they are no good, but i am really not sure ...

can anyone else confirm or deny this
maybe some pictures could help ?

 

[mclar55]

here are some photos. There are a few with yellow patches on them. A few are round and some are off shape with dints in the but dont know if that was from moving them. I attached some photos

 

[1issie]

Oh thats not good,tell that person he was WRONG!!!,i dont know much but try and keep them dry, and is this your first time?????.

 

[1issie]

They don't look good,GULP???

 

[giggle]

Im sorry I think your eggs are no good. Here is a link with some nice big clear photos of what eggs should look like and info on how to care for them.

bearded dragon eggs | Bearded Dragons For Sale

I hope I am wrong... but... pretty sure im not. Did you have a tray full of sand for her to lay them in? If you bought her from that pet store gravid and they told you her expected date then you should go back in there and demand compensation through maybe discounted or free food or something. I would be really dirty with them if that were the case.
If you mated her yourself but didnt know gestation periods and merely asked the pet store instead of doing your own research then you only have yourself to blame Don't mean to sound mean lol Next time you will know though right

But being unsure, if I were you I would go about asthough they were good eggs at least until an experienced breeder replies with a more definitive answer. Looking at pics of healthy eggs though yours dont look good. If its her first lot too, she may have just had a dud batch? Happens with birds alot, sometimes their first clutch just isnt right, but a second clutch will be fine.
BTW... Im pretty sure beardies are capable of laying a few clutches per season... so put a sandy tray in there for her to lay them into and keep your eye on her. Check out the website I sent and do some google searches write it all down/print it our and keep it next to your girls enclosure and check on her when ever you get the chance. If you dont have an incubator, look up making your own Im sure it wouldnt be too hard with a thermostat, patience and the right heating.

BTW I have zero experience... just trying to put out some suggestions from an inexperienced point of view... that is what I would do in your situation. Going out and buying a $400+ incubator doesn't appeal to me, I would be making one xD I have made doggy incubators/humidycribs before ^_^ My own whelping boxes, holding pens and now Im making my own reptile enclosures.

Best of luck! I would love to hear what happens and lets hope next clutch goes way better

Ari

 

[Chicken]

ok ok ok, do not throw them out they are still ok! The yellow ones may be a bit hard to keep good but the white ones that have dimpled still certainty have a chance. Ok the biggest rule is to not rotate the eggs in any way. If it is accidentally held upside down then the embryo detaches and drowns. Ok so get some vermiculite, you really need to get it off that dirt stuff and mix a 1:1 ratio of water and vermiculite together based on weight. So weigh your vermiculite thats in your container and say it weighs 40g then mix in 40g of water. Ok, now you need an incubator, do you have one? Im hoping you do, or tell me you don't and ill tell you really really simple how to make one in my next post. Ok so incubate the eggs at 29c don't let it pass 33 or get below 27. Ok so we have a problem, they have dimpled because you weren't prepared and they were un expected so early.. Don't worry that parts not your fault. So to get them up and plump again you need to spray the vermiculite damp that surrounds the eggs not the actual eggs. If they get wet they drown. Ok so now you should expect another clutch in 20 - 30 days. And they can lay up to 6 clutches. I think i've covered everything. Oh and yes, in 20 - 30 days you will see her going crazy and start scratching everywhere franticly, this means you add a lay box. So put in her cage a 50Lt box (can be smaller or bigger that) and at least 35cm deep of play sand from bunnings. Make a shallow end and a deep end and sloap the sand on a 40 degree angle. Then she should dig a hole and lay her eggs. Then she will burry her eggs. Let her do that and when she's done soak her in a bath as you dig up the eggs. Also in the incubator put a few tubs of water in there to get the humidity up. They will take 50 - 70 days to hatch. I hope i covered everything any other questions just ask. Good luck!!

 

[mclar55]

Yes this is my first clutch. I was totally unprepared and hoping if she lays another clutch i will know exactly what to do. But not giving up on this clutch yet.

I dont have an incubator but i have put them into 3 separate chinese containers with the vermiculite in them then put them back into the cage for warmth. The vermiculite has been mixed with warm water. (This is what the pet barn said to do).

They are still looking bad tho.

 

[Chicken]

Yep do what i said about spraying the vermiculite surrounding them. Ok incubator time. Basically just watch this lol i can't be stuffed telling you everything. This is basically what i do (this video is not me).[video=youtube;pEF76mCb96Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEF76mCb96Q[/video]

 

[mclar55]

Thankyou for your help. how often should i spray around the eggs. if their temps drop for a short period of time is that bad

 

[gregcranston]

Didn't have time to read everyone elses long responses, but whilst there may be some unfertile ones amongst them. There is a very good chance most are still fertile. The sinking of them means the humidity is too low! Go to Bunnings and get some vermiculite ASAP. Mix it 1:1 with water (by WEIGHT not volume) and put the wet verm in a sealable container, gently place the eggs on the verm. You can make little identation for them with your thumb. Then you want to get them at 27-31 degrees. The humidity is much more important than temp though, if you have somehting to measure humidity, you want it around 85-99%, then hopefully this will help the eggs plump up a bit. I have incubated hundreds of beardie eggs succesfully this way. Also be careful to keep the eggs in the same orietation when you move them, cause after about 24 hours they should stay in same oreintation. Good luck!
If the container is sealed, you shouldn't need to keep re-wetting the verm, maybe once a fortnight at most.
Just read Reptilerookie321's first reply, it is way better than mine, lol.

 

[mclar55]

I have them in the containers that seem to be generating a lot of humidity. How long till I will know if they are good or not. im really hoping at least some survive to hatch.

 

[Chicken]

Yes but they look very dimpled down, everything were kind of saying is around moisture. So keep the moisture in the air high (humidity derr lol) and Greg you don't think spraying the verm will help? ok then you can try it a bit i guess, but never give up on them!!

 

[Chicken]

Well they can go infertile any time or not so you wont really know until they hatch. But if you say the humidity is high then they should be losing their dimples which a good sign. Don't worry they'll be right, hows the incubator coming along?

 

[gregcranston]

Greg you don't think spraying the verm will help?

I guess maybe a bit, but not too much.
mclar55, if their seems to be a lot of condensation on the lids. It is usually because the temps haven't reached the ideal 29 degrees yet, it usually happens at the lower temps I've found and will go away at it reaches 29-30. But as long as the water is not dripping directly on the eggs, then it isn't too much of an issue.
Some eggs may continue to collapse, it may be because they were always infertile from the beginning, but don't take them out until they start to rot, then you wanna get em out before they affect the other eggs.
Oh and if the temps drop for a very short period of time, like less than 1 hour, then it isn't usually an issue, sometimes even 12 hours they survive.

 

[Jeannine]

what if you dont have access to a Bunnings to buy vermiculite cause the nearest ones 3 hours away

what would a person use in those circumstances? ditto to the play sand?

 

[gregcranston]

what if you dont have access to a Bunnings to buy vermiculite cause the nearest ones 3 hours away

what would a person use in those circumstances? ditto to the play sand?

Is there any other local nursery closer? I'd try get vermiculite off them. Or just buy some online.

 

[Chicken]

Moist news paper mashay works good. (can't spell that word

 

[sweetangel]

First off the eggs are drying out so what people have said is right to get the humidity up. dont be to worried about it. best this is perlite or vermiculite pretty much something that holds water. then if u get too much condesation on the lid its too much water. generally a 1;1 water to weigh of vermiculite ratio is good. i had my first clutch of ackie eggs do the same thing.

i guess some thign that u could use if u were desperate is moist sand. but u would have to be carefull as i dont know what ratio of water you would need. i would assume it would be similar to that of a laying box so not wet but slightly moist. and just make a small indent in the sand/vermiculite so they egg sit in it. i also mark the top of my eggs so i dont accidently turn them. i dropped a clutch of eggs twice and they all hatched cos i could right them up the proper way

 

[cris]

Havnt read all responses but i would imediately get a damp paper towel (not driping wet) and place it over the eggs to rehydrate them and prevent further drying (the drying is what makes them cave in). If they dry out too much they will die, but they look like they could be ok in the pics.

I wouldnt worry abouting heating at this point, just keep them inside in an area that has a fairly stable temp and dont let them get cold at night. Over heating will kill them much quicker than being a bit cooler for a while.

If you cant get vermiculite or pearlite you could use the "over water" method, you basically suspend the eggs on mesh above water in a sealed container, so the dont get wet but are in very high humidity. There is a good article about this method on the snakeranch website.