Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so Dawn's colors just started to fade... I'm thinking that this time we might have eggs soon. She's still plump with eggs, but I can feel the bones easily at the base of her tail - they don't really show yet, but I can feel them. We give her as much as she wants to eat, and there are usually 6-12 extra crickets in the cage durring the day so she can eat when she wants as much as she wants... Yet, that tail is getting skinny!

We dust the crickets daily, her poop is normal, shes ACTIVE... But now she sleeps standing in the corner of her cage... I'm prepared to force feed her if needed, but she just may be getting ready to lay and I shouldn't be too concerned (I know how restless I got before labor...)... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhoo, the boys are both shedding again - I think it's the 7th time now in 3 months! I don't think they were well cared for before we got them. Jewel is the type to try escaping all the time, and Spike is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fat!!! He has fat lines down his sides, and pockets of fat under his chin and behind his arms... lol! He's cuddly, too, just really fat!

*sigh* I can hardly wait for babies... lol!

~Buggzter
2:1 collared lizards
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In the initial stages she will eat everything in site...then she will slow down and eat nothing just a few days before laying. I would not try to force feed her if she is late in the stages of her pregnancy. Don't stress her.

I would just keep a shallow dish in her cage and offer water two or three times a day. I would put a styrofoam cup on the top with a pin hole in the bottom. Allow the water to drip into the shallow dish. Try to use a dish that will not be able to be dumped over.

Sounds like this is not related to ill health at all. Force feeding is probably not the answer. Keep us posted thought.

John Eddington

Thanks - I didn't THINK she needed force-feeding, but without much experience I wanted to make sure. She's back to not digging, so we put in another place to lay eggs (there are now 3), while Jewel bounces from a couple of them all night... I just wish she had some privacy, but Tony just got 4 blue belly fence lizards and they took the extra cage we had... I'm just NERVOUS!!!!!!!!! She'll lay soon... that's all I know...

I got my first ever clutch of collared eggs a few weeks ago, waiting for her to emerge from the lay box was painstaking, I thought she would never surface, thankfully my other half gets home early on a Friday so I got the news by phone

Eve gave me a great tip: A watched pot never boils. Best piece of advice I can share, just do your routine checks, and if she looks like she has had extreme liposuction that's when she's laid. Get yourself a soft paintbrush, and when the time comes...start the egg hunt
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Kel

www.collaredlizards.co.uk
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