HELP our beardie laid eggs!

[maverickgtr]

So our beardie Isis laid eggs today despite the fact that she hasn't been mated or even seen a male for that matter. I just need to know a few things to make sure she's not egg bound and won't suffer any ill effects. She's been acting really weird for the last couple months but we chalked it up to brumation since all the "symptoms[?]" fit. She was/is moody and didn't want to be touched our taken out of her tank and she'd been very iffy on eating. Some days she would, others she wouldn't. And tonight while I'm in class she lays eggs. You can imagine my surprise when my fiancee calls me on my drive home and informs me that Isis has laid eggs. Also, she's never even been around a male since we bought her and she was taken away from her brothers two years ago.

Basically, I want to make sure she's not going to get egg bound. I think when I got home from class it might have disturbed her laying so I'm not sure if she laid all of her eggs. How many eggs do they normally lay? Is there a way to tell if she hasn't laid them all? Do I need to up her vitamin/calcium dusting intake? Is there anything special I need to do for her after this [I'd expect her to be at least a little nutrient deficient at least]? How aggressive is she going to be when I reach in there and start messing with her sand where she buried the eggs? When should I try to get the eggs out of her tank? Should I bother trying to get an incubator? Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated, I'm absolutely dumbfounded!

[West Coast Jungle]

She is gonna be real hungry, some folks give them a few pinks after they lay. But worms, greens and crickets with some calcium powder would be good too.

Beardies don't need to be with a male to lay eggs, they will lay infertile clutches like chickens lay infertile eggs.

You should have notice that she had some extra saddle bags hanging on her sides, lol. You should be able to feel her belly to see if there are anymore. Fertile eggs are much larger and therefore more likely to get stuck. I have hatched over 50 beardie clutches and have never experienced any egg bound problems so its not all that common. Fertile eggs look real white and plump and infertile ones are more yellow looking and appear deflated.

[maverickgtr]

That makes me feel so much better that it's not that common. Yea I figured they wouldn't be fertile, as much as I would love a billion adorable beardie babies, I couldn't afford caring for them right now [geez they must eat 1000 lbs of crickets a day!], nor do I have an incubator for fertile eggs or space to keep babies.

These are small, yellow, and a little bit wrinkled, though I don't think I'd say deflated [yet anyway, and I've only been able to spot a couple of them as she buries them as soon as I get close]. Should I feed her more crickets for now? She normally just loves greens, but does she need the extra protein? Or does it matter and she just needs food?

[Action Reptiles]

Hi,

Like West Coast said it is common for females to lay infertile eggs even though they haven't had any contact with a male. Beardies can lay anywhere from a couple to 30-40 eggs per clutch and can lay multiple clutches. You can feel her belly and should be able to feel if there are any more eggs but like stated it is not very common for beardies to become egg bound unless they are very young or don't have enough weight. They are not aggressive so you should be able to remove the eggs with no problem I would just gather all the eggs and put them in the freezer for a day or 2 then discard them. You want to up her calcium intake(I would dust her food at least once daily with calcium and multi vit 1 or 2 times a week). I would offer her as much as she wants to eat daily both protein and greens. This will help her gain the weight she lost back and help her if she lays another clutch. Keep an eye on her as she might be laying another clutch in 30 days or so. Depending on your tank setup I would put a lay bin in her tank when you think she might lay again it will help make sure she lays all her eggs. The main reason they will hold off laying is if they can't find a suitable laying spot. if you have any more questions feel free to contact me... hope this helps....

[maverickgtr]

Sorry guys the last couple days have been hectic enough even without the eggs! They're all little, yellow, and now thrown out. Isis was eating again, but only ate a couple pieces of greens yesterday, and today she ate a couple pieces again and isn't really moving from her hot spot. I moved her food bowl closer to her so hopefully she'll eat some more. If not when I get home tonight I'm going to offer more again to see if I can get her to eat more. Other than not eating that much she seems to be doing well. During her bath yesterday she was walking around the tub like she was before she got moody this winter, and she's not acting lethargic. She just seems like she's being lazy.

Should I expect eggs every year now? Just get a lay box ready around this time every year now?

[Action Reptiles]

Its possible she may lay more this year in a month or so... she may lay every year but it depends on her. I have had a female lay 3-4 infertile clutches each year for a couple years. So it depends on the female..

[West Coast Jungle]

Have you tried live worms or pinkies? The movement/wiggling will help get a feeding response, I have used worms on greens to get beardies interested in them.

Like previously mentioned they can lay three clutches a year for several years and them it tails off.

[maverickgtr]

She is now regularly eating a lot again. Back to being a fatty like usual! haha She's all back to normal [before the winter moodiness, I mean] and I'm happy I have my explorative beardie back and not one that just wants to chill in her tank all day!

I will have to try the worms trick if she doesn't want greens one day... She does like superworms as a treat but I never thought of putting them under her greens so they wiggle.

[Action Reptiles]

Nice.. If you think they like supers try hornworms... Lol I haven't found a beardie yet that doesn't got nuts for them...

[maverickgtr]

Where do you get your hornworms from? You're not the first person to tell me that but I can't find them at the local pet stores and I'm not sure how I feel about ordering worms/crickets/etc from a place I haven't used before [catch-22?] or haven't heard good things about. I don't want to spend the money on some insects just to get a box of dead ones.