This girl is a real success story.
Last year was her first year breeding and she was eggbound with her last egg. I tried a few remedies (manual pushing, increased heat, water bowl, etc.) but she held the last egg. I brough her to a vet who opted for surgery to remove the egg after first trying to use some lube in the cloaca to get the egg out. The egg was large and about 2 to 3 inches above the cloaca. She recovered fine from the surgery and I bred her again this year.
The reptile gods were smiling on me as she laid 11 perfect eggs last week, about 12 days after her pre-egg lay shed. The only thing I really did different was to place a large cork roll over the egg box to provide some extra security and turn on a small infrared spotlight in the corner of her cage (it's a 3 foot Vision cage). She tended to use the hot spot for a few hours each morning and I'm convinced the extra heat and security made her more comfortable to lay. Last year she seemed to not be comfortable at all with her egg box, even though the black milk above her did just fine with the exact same set up, and didn't even start laying the eggs, which were infertile, until day 19 afer her pre-eg lay shed.
So with her clutch and the other black milk who laid three weeks or so ago, I have 26 beautiful eggs. Can't until they hatch!
Rob Haneisen
