Hey everyone, I just rescued a bearded dragon about two weeks ago and realized a few days ago "he" was actually a "she" and that she was gravid. I provided a lay box for her and when I came home today she was in the middle of laying the eggs. She has laid ten eggs so far. Eight of them are in the lay box and then she moved to the basking log and laid another two there and she is working on the eleventh egg. Does anyone have experience with beardies laying eggs? I have never done this before and I want to make sure that she is comfortable and everything is going the way it should and I can provide everything she needs after she is done. I kept the tank at the normal temperature, should this be increased? Should I give her a bath tomorrow to help with hydration? I'm planning on offering her a nice big salad and some roaches because she has been off food for a few days. Is there anything else I can do for her? This is all very exciting and really nerve racking at the same time, so any helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. : )
I have a male, so I don't have any experience in the egg-laying department, but from what I've read you don't need to adjust the temperatures or anything. Just provide the laying box as you have already done and give her a few days to lay all the eggs. A bath and some tasty noms are always good. She may not eat at first because she will be very tired from the egg laying process, but once she does decide to eat again she will probably eat a lot to help regain her strength. Going off of food for a few days is also normal before a female is about to lay eggs, so no worries there. It's also important to increase her calcium supplementation to make up for the calcium lost during egg production, so make sure you are dusting all her meals for the next week or two. When you notice her exhibiting signs of gravidity in the future, you can resume the increased dusting as well. Aside from that, you should be all set. How is the spot on her beard doing?
Thank you for all the advice, specifically the increase in calcium. I had not thought about that. Unfortunately, she had some trouble laying the eleventh egg last night and I woke up to see that she has a prolapse while trying to push the egg out. This morning I cleaned the tank and replaced it with paper towels and also gave her a sugar water bath to help clean the dirt off of her from the lay box and to help with the prolapse. I also put KY Jelly on her vent to help keep it moist. Around lunch time I came home and it was still there, so I gave her another bath and repeated the process with the jelly. After I came home from work and gave her another bath, it all went back inside. So I am a very happy bearded dragon owner right now : ) However, I am still worried about her laying the rest of the eggs and the process happening again. I spoke with my vet and he told me that I could use the jelly and a Q-tip to help gently push it back inside. I was nervous about doing this so I waited to see if she dealt with it on her own and if the sugar baths helped, which they did. He also said that if it happens again and lasts for more than a day or so that I should bring her in to see him. So everyone keep your fingers crossed that she lays the rest of the eggs without a problem : )
Awesome! I'm reaally glad to hear it self corrected with the help of the sugar baths. How is she now on the next egg? Obviously make sure she has her nesting box back now that the prolapse is taken care of. If she hasn't passed the egg in a day or two, or if you notice her straining again, she'll probably need to be looked at by your vet so he can find out what's causing the dystocia and take corrective measures. A lot of egg binding can be corrected with calcium and oxytocin injections, which don't cost a ton. The worst part will be the cost of x-rays or if she needs the egg/s surgically removed. Anyways, you can try giving her a few warm baths which I read can help if abdominal swelling is an issue. Other than that, you are pretty much in a wait-and-see-what-happens place right now. I'll send lots of warm fuzzy thoughts your way and hopefully everything will work out with no problems. Good luck! Oh, I know you probably know a lot of what I'm telling you already; I just want to include all the basics in case people need help in the future and they stumble upon this thread.
