Well I have figured it all out guys. Marilyn is gravid. I am really getting scared for her. I have supplied what I think is the right conditions for her. Let me run them by you, and you can point out my errors. Ok, she now has a second tub put inside her cage. It is filled with a slightly moist warm mix of playsand and coconut husk. (the reason for the husk is the local rep breeder said it would be the best substrate for this time, almost inducing the birth??) The temp where her nest tub is is at 80 degrees as the forums have stated. Her nest tub has a lid with the substrate almost to the top so she feels secure and can dig. I have also used a suggestion of covering the top/sides of the main cage so she also feels more secure. She began laying her eggs on Thursday around 4pm. I immediately called the local breeder and followed suit in changing the setup. The next egg didn't appear until Friday night around midnight. Saturday around approx 2pm she was moving over her basking rock like she was trying to force push out another. She rubbed her stomach about 4 times over this rock, I could see the egg begin to come out I think, but then just some thick discharge squirted out, and she gave up on that attempt. It is now Sunday morning and no new eggs were layed over night. With all the research I have been doing, I really haven't found any hard directions on taking care of problems with laying the eggs. From the info you have gathered do you see any steps I have been missing? The wife and I are so worried about her. Is there an egg laying time frame? Also she has completely stopped eating. Which I know is normal for this time, but still makes me very worried. I have been syringe feeding her a calcium/nutrient water mix, hoping that it will be enough to keep her hydrated in this time. I have also tried a luke warm soak in hopes of inducing labor. What else can I do guys?
Hi, Firstly, let me say I'm no expert on mali's and egg laying, and you're right there is very little info on the net. I'm not even sure how many eggs a mali would lay but it seems they do lay more than 7 or 8. If no more have appeared by Monday then I would suggest contacting a vet. Can you see any more lumps in her belly, can you feel anything. You are doing the right thing giving her water with supps. you could even put a small dish of water in tank for a few hours a day, she may drink herself. I would be concerned that she's eggbound if no more appear soon and the only answer is the vet to resolve this. Sorry I cant be a little bit more constructive here. Hope she's OK.
Bruno, thanks again for the reply. I did a little research on her being egg bound, and it looks like there are 3 routes a vet can go. A needle into the eggs to remove the contents, a drug which helps contractions, or the worst of the three, surgery. I am hoping it doesn't come to this. After consulting the breeder about the new information the breeder said that it could take up to a week for her to pass these eggs, and that because they are infertile that the chances of her being egg bound are unlikely. She definitely still has more eggs as I can see them protruding from her sides now. I am just going to leave her be for the rest of the day and see if there is any progress. I figure she has to be stressed out going through labor, not eating, being force fed liquids, and having her setup changed.
I guess that's the best route, wait and see just now, she will be very stressed. As long as you can keep fluids going into to her, she should be OK. Rather than stick the syringe inside the mouth, will she lick it off if you drip onto nose? I do know that some lizards will re-absorb infertile eggs, now whether a Mali will I dont know. Surgery is unlikely as the other 2 methods usually work. Sounds like the breeder is fairly knowledgable, so go by what he says. All the best with her.
Just an update, Marilyn has passed her 3rd egg now, but she is looking very fatigued. Keep your fingers crossed guys.
I talked to the breeder again, and she told me that Marilyn may not pass all the eggs because they are infertile, and that her body could absorb them. With that in mind she said the best thing to do was to put her back into her normal settings which I did. She is looking a lot better now, and she finally ate something all by herself!!! I am still going to keep a very watchful eye over her behaviors, but I think she is going to pull through Thanks for all your help Bruno!
Hi, The fact she's looking better and eating on her own is a very good sign. As you say, keep a good eye on her and those lumps, if they start getting smaller then she is absorbing them. May take a week or so but it sounds like she will be OK. Keep an eye on her vent for signs of straining, ie, vent slightly open or swollen, especially if she does a poo. If you are using multi-vits, I would up that to 3x a week, it will help her. Calcium she will get from the egg shells. Good luck with her.
Marilyn is finally finished. When I came home today and checked on her, I found her sitting atop 16 more eggs. That puts the total count to 20. I am going to leave her in this cage for a little while longer as I am taking this opportunity to retro fit her main tank. I 'm very excited about this new cage setup, I will be posting pictures when finished.
