Hi everyone! I adopted a female beardie 3 months ago from a vet ( who thought she was a he). Anyway, in the past 3 months, she has laid a batch of 16 eggs each month I have had her. Am I doing something wrong? I don't have a male. I try to feed her veggies ( which she hates - unless it's something that was cooked and left over from my 1 year old's dinner), crickets, worms. I give her calcium supplements, and she has that special UV light bulb. I have given her a pinkie, but I don't know if I can stomach doing that again. She is a disabled beardie...she is missing her 2 front paws...she was found in the woods when I adopted her. Anyway, is it common for her to lay a batch of eggs every month? I don't know how old she is since she was found and then I adopted her. But she is about 16 inches long...she is a big girl.
RE: She won Welcome to the forum!! This is not a normal thing. (One or two infertile eggs are rare to be laid by lone females) Some questions for you, then I have some information. Doe she eat pellets? Daily? Are the eggs fertile? or do you not know because you are you disposing of the eggs? If disposing, how are you doing so? Okay, now for the information! Female beardies can retain sperm for super long periods of time (I up to 15 months I 'personally' know of) so its not your fault! the previous owners must have housed her with a male. (My guess how she lost her paws) All you can do is make sure she gets lots of UVB and calcium supplement. Keep her warm and comfortable. If you don't know, you can freeze the eggs for 24 hours before disposing. Its the most humane way for them to go (Raising babies is very expensive, and time consuming.)
Hello and THANK YOU so much for responding... here are my answers: Doe she eat pellets? Daily? I give them to her and she doesn't touch them. Are the eggs fertile? I don't think so...they cave in and turn yellow or do you not know because you are you disposing of the eggs? I had buried them in sand at first. It was the only thing I had available at the time. I am a teacher and she is my class pet, so I couldn't run out and buy anything at the moment she laid them. If disposing, how are you doing so? I have only disposed of the yellow caved in ones... not the most humane way I guess, cause I threw them into the garbage ( now I know better). What do I do now? I am sure she will lay another batch eventually. Also, I asked the vet if she was housed with a male, and they said no. However, they only had her for about 9 months. Her front paws kind of "rotted off". The first one at the vets, and I was told the second one would fall off as well. It did in my 2nd week of having her. All this, and I have to say she is soooooooooo friendly. I love her! She will lay on your shoulder for ever. And, when you speak to her, she looks at you...just like a puppy! I am worried though because I can't find any good reference materials. I am glad I found this site. I will post a pic of her soon. Even with disabilities and all...she is a cutie. Everyone compliments me on her... I guess cause she is so big, and healthy looking ( except for those paws).
How are you supposed to dispose of them? My beardie laid 27 infertile eggs about two weeks ago. She's 2 years old or so and hasn't been housed with a male since she was two months old. Welcome to the forums
My Yavie's got only a nub of a tail, and after her I'll probably never buy a whole beardie ever again, only adopt disabled ones. (not that intact ones are 'bad' to me, I just like 'broken' ones i guess) Okay, so like I said, they can store lots of sperm for a long time. Everything is fine now as the eggs are coming, we know she's not eggbound. If she's been laying on an almost clockwork schedule just watch for her going off this schedule, then you should have her x-rayed. Eventually the egg laying will stop on its own, but until then keep up the extra calcium, (Don't forget multivitamin) and don't worry about the pinky thing, you should not ever need to do that again. I'd freeze the eggs then dispose of them, just to be sure. Odd question, how's her poop? Don't be scared, give me the scientific description or a photo. (I've got my sights set on a career in zoo reptile care, and a strong stomach) Also, are you housing her on sand? Its a touchy subject in the reptile community and if you are housing on sand, washed and sifted playsand would be the best (a fun thing to have the kids do, I can picture a class of kids now, covered in wattery sand) Sand isn't the thing you want to keep the eggs in if you wanted to try to incubate them but just as a warning, 24 baby beardies cost about $2,000.00 USD to feed for just 6 weeks. I wish my teachers let us have class pets when I was a kid. As for reference material, there's a lot here in the knowledge base and plenty of users here who can help, If you need any help ASAP you can PM me and I'll get the alert in my e-mail.
789, like I said, you freeze them for 24 hours, to be sure that they are not fertile, then you can just throw them out. Also, 789 if you start your own thread you should get replies from people who know more about egg laying and sexual reproduction in beardies (my knowledge is limited)
Hey Taristar, I cannot believe it costs that much to feed them! Wow! Anyway, here are some more answers... her poop seems very normal. She poops a few times a week. It has some white in it and of course some brown. It look a lot like turtle poop. I had turtles my entire life ( until now) . Except, of course, for the white. You know...kind of squishy...not anything I haven't seen before. I am not housing her in sand because I was told not to do so by the vet where I adopted her from. She has one of those carpet "felt" like things. Sometimes, I put her on newspaper while I wash the carpet she is usually on. Oh, and one of my students actually wrote an essay telling me why a beardie would be the best choice for a class pet. It was very good and I was convinced! I will post pics this weekend!
Love kids. You've got a great veterinarian. Is s/he reptile specialty? its not easy to find quality reptile veterinarians outside a zoo. The white is a urate. Its basically what a bearded dragon pees. And you sound like you're out to a great start here! p.s yes, its expensive. 24 babies, each will eat about 100 crickets a day (sometimes more! but then again sometimes less) and thats about 2,400 crickets in a day! I did all the math using a few sites once and averaged over $2,000 for the first 6 weeks on food alone. Lets say one can sell each baby for $50 (the 'petco' price I believe) you're only making $1,200 so someone'd be at a base deficit of $800 in the first selling week(because that price doesn't include housing, lighting and other expenses) I found it pretty interesting, no wonder most breeders go for the colors and sell them at $100+
Here are a few links that may help you find a qualified herp vet closer to you. These are my go-to resources everytime I have to move to a new location. Hope these help! http://www.herpvetconnection.com/ http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm
I'm so glad I came on here!! I am having the exact same problem. I adopted a beardie girl and ever since I have had her, she lays eggs monthly like clockwork. I had to build a laying box the first time and now I think we just had clutch six. I bought "ReptiBoost" and calcium supplement and I give her beardie kibble and fresh insects, organic veggies and a bath daily for water. I wonder if I am feeding her too much? Is she just damn healthy? I do have a young male beardie and an old adoptee...I wonder if it's being around the guys that makes her lay so frequently. Do keep up the calcium because my poor girl broke her jaw due to calcium leeching out of her body. She's good now. Anyhow...6 clutches of deflated, yellow eggs. I just feel bad for her...all that digging, seems like a lot of work!
