I have two, approximately 7 to 8 month old beardies. I recently discovered that I have a male and a female. The male began attempting to copulate with the female sometime in mid-October, but he was unsuccessful. My husband and I then moved in late October, which is when all their strange behavior began. At first, my male beardie refused to eat. He didn’t even go to the bathroom for about a week. He finally began to eat his veggies, and the next day he pooped (guess he was constipated?). Our female dragon, on the other hand, was eating voraciously. She more than doubled in size in a matter of a couple of weeks. My first question is, why isn’t my male eating? Is he attempting to go into winter shut-down? Is he suppose to be smaller than my female?



My second problem comes from the fact that I have a male and a female. My male, after numerous attempts, finally succeeded in copulating with the female. This act took place about two and a half weeks ago. Now, I fear my female is egg-bound b/c I cannot only see egg bulges, but I can feel them as well. I understand that egg laying can be harmful at such an early age b/c of the loss of calcium that the female will pass onto the eggs. She’s digging like crazy, as is the male. I suppose my question is more of a plea for advice. Are they supposed to lay eggs in the winter time? Will laying eggs harm my female? Should I separate the two? Help!!



Here’s some information that may or may not be helpful – my dragons are kept in an enclosure that is 6’x3’x3’ in dimension. I use calcium enriched sand (Vita-sand to be exact) as a substrate, and they always have fresh water available. I feed them veggies (romaine lettuce mainly b/c they won’t eat any other veggie although I always offer a variety of fruits and vegetables) and crickets. I just switched their heating lamps b/c their basking site was as low as 90F and the other side of the cage was only 75F. Now, their cage is at 105/85F. Both of them have not eaten in several days, nor have they had a bowl movement in about five days. They have full spectrum sun lamps that I keep on for approximately ten hours a day.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am new to the wonderful world of bearded dragons, but I am trying my best. Thanks!



Samantha

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