As I have posted before, I am the keeper of a female veiled, Lola, who underwent surgery last October to remove eggs that werent going to be able to be laid. The vet told me at the time that this procedure would leave her unable to produce eggs for the rest of her life. Well, Lola didn't get the memo.
I moved her outside full time about a month or so ago, and after a week of acclimating to the great outdoors, she was really thriving. A little meaner to me, but thriving none the less. Recently, though, she had been eating less and spending alot of time cramling around the bottom of the enclosure, (175 g reptarium). I originally thought she was trying to thermoregulate herself, as we are having a bit of a heat spell, but she was climbing to the bottom even on the cooler days.
Well, yesterday I found her butt-up in a hole, gravid coloration, digging away into the soil of a plant. I didnt want to disturb her, so I walked away and let her go to work. I had considered the psychological effects of the surgery before, and wondered if her instinct to reproduce would be curbed by the surgery. I guess that answers that question.
I do not expect to see any eggs, (i'll be VERY upset with my vet if i do), but do you all think I should feed/supplement her as if she is producing eggs? I figured I would give her D3-free calcium at every feeding, in case her body is still going through the motions of being gravid and using up calcium. On the other hand, though, if the calcium isnt being used to form eggs, an i risking calcification of her bones by over-supplementing calcium?
Weird stuff. But as Jeff Goldbloom so aptly said in Jurassic Park, "...nature finds a way".
Thanks.
