Hi,

If she is eating whole, well grown, prey then she really shouldn't have a calcium deficiency at all.

It could be an underlying problem or it could be a problem with egg development or, and this is the one to bear in mind, it could be a one off fluke problem.

The only way to be certain of calcium deficiency is probably by looking at bone density on an x-ray. Not particularly cheap.

If she feels strong and in good body condition I'm not sure I would go for that as they tend to have to anaesthatise them which carries risks.

If she gets back into condition for next season I would breed her again if you can and see if the eggs have the same problem. If they do I would probably avoid breeding her again until I had looked into it.

It might be worthwhile sending the pics to some of the bigger breeders as well for their opinions as they see more eggs than most and might have had something similar in the past.


dr del