Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello to everyone. Just a quick question. Will ackies lay eggs in seperate burrows from the burrows they use on a daily basis? My ackies have a pretty large borrow system and I just wanted to know if I need to dig up all of it in search of eggs. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I am very curious about the answer to this question. Could you dig it all up and post a reply about whether or not you had to or if they had special chambers? Thanks and best to you-Mike

They will fill in the burrow and camoflage it to their best ability. Sometimes there is a little air pocket, sometimes it is fully filled in with dirt. So, yes, it would be a different burrow than they live in.

Don't they actually live in a different burrow then they live in? hahahahahahahahahaha Hmmmmmmmmmm They seem to make new burrows often, very often. In fact, they rarely use the same burrow for any extented lenght of time. They tend to keep mucking with them until its gone.

This occurs in nature to a lesser extent. For instance, the gilas I watch that have dirt burrows, constantly work the burrows until they are no longer usable.

I am sure its worse in captivity as they do not have much to do and not much area to do it in. Cheers

Thanks everone, Just another quick question. Does digging up their burrows to look for eggs cause the ackies much stress? I mean I am sure it causes stress, but they seem like tough little beast and just wondering what effect this had on them. Actually, to be honest they seem to enjoy the "challenge" of starting over. Thanks again and happy herping Frank!

It bothers the heck out of them. Their lifes task is to allow those eggs to hatch. They do protect their nest. But of course not against giants like us.

Personally I think it really effects them over the long term. Sooner or later, they behaviorally give up. But then what would you expect?

The truth is, at this time there is no better choice. But I try not to destroy the whole cage, I try to leave as much as possible intact.

When you dig up eggs the first thing you will notice(if you bother to notice) is the female will check the cage. Then she will get depressed for a few days if the cage is messed up. Its my experience they stay at the nesting area for a month. Not the entire lenght of incubation. Cheers