Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just rescued a female bearded dragon suffering from MBD a couple of weeks ago. I have made sure that I kept this female seperated from my male bearded dragon except for supervised "play time". This being the first female reptile that I've owned, I was unprepared when I just discovered a clutch of eggs in her habitat. When I questioned the pet store as to her previous living conditions, I was made aware that the previous owner had bred her and she had already produced two clutches despite her immaturity and calcium deficiency. This new clutch is probably a result of another breeding while under the previous owner's care. I know that I have been giving her enough calcium and D3, but I am concerned for the eggs, if they are indeed fertile. When I discovered them, some were perfectly oval and some were dented. I have set up a temporary incubator until the one that I purchaced arrives. I'm really not sure if the set up that I have is good enough. Possibly too much humidity. What should temperature and humidity be?? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Pictures are attached.

it looks like the eggs are in mud..... but it could be the picture. Incubation medium should be lightly damp, but not so damp if you squeeze it, any water drips out. For perlite and vermiculate, one part medium to one part water by Weight, is sufficient.

Incubation temps should fall between 83-85F, humidity for bearded dragons...90% or so... basically the eggs should look plump but not swollen.

incubators can be anything that can maintain temperatures and humidity in the desired range,.be it a glass tank, store bought incubator, styrofoam, etc... Real only difference is some styles are just more effective and efficient than others.
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PHLdyPayne

Currently, tempurature inside the tank is at 84 degrees and humidity is at 87%. As for the medium, it is an organic potting soil made up of perlite, sand and hypnum peat. Some condensation has been building up on the lid of the tupperware container and has been rolling down into the medium. This is probably what is giving the muddy appearance. Would you recommend keeping the lid off of the container since the temp and humidity in the tank itself are at the correct levels?

It's a tough picture to see but most of the eggs look infertile. Fertile eggs are full and plump with no dents. 83-85 is a good incubator temp range, they will hatch in 60-75 days at that range. I try to keep humidity always above 90%. My containers have lids to hold the humidity in with just a few small holes for ventilation without losing too much humidity.

The eggs look shelled properly which is a good sign that she's not as calcium deficient as you may think.

When I rescued her, the pet store said that she was in a lot worse shape when they got her. They made sure that she received her calcium/D3/vitamins and I just continued that by gut-loading and dusting the crickets, dusting the roaches and adding extra calcium/D3 to her salad mix every other day and extra vitamins twice a week.

Some of the eggs are indeed dented, but some are nice and plump with only a very slight wrinkle in the shell. How long will it be before I am able to tell if they are infertile and what are the other signs to look for? I know I can just throw out the eggs if they're infertile, but I don't want to do that until I am absolutely sure that they're no good. I've included a couple more pictures. One if a close up of one of the eggs, the other is of the temp/humidity inside the tank. I noticed the temp was lower this morning, probably because of the temp drop overnight outside of the tank.

If they look good in 2 weeks they will most likely be OK. The bad/infertiles will start to smell and rot within that time.

Regarding calcium supplementation. You don't need to supplement salads. You should choose greens and vegs. that are naturally high in calcium. Greens like collards, mustard greens, turnip tops, escarole, endive and dandelion are good.

Commercially available live food is high in phosphorus. The important thing is the Calcium/Phosphorus ratio so live food should be dusted with Calcium powder to improve the ratio.

Eggs can also be 'candled' basically holding a bright light to one side of the egg which allows you to see some of whats inside...typically if you see veins, the egg is fertile, if its just a uniform mass with no lines or veins, it is infertile. Candling should not be done after the eggs are about a week old.. shells end up being too dense by then to see.

Make sure hte eggs are put back in he same orientation when taking out. Using a non toxic felt tip marker or soft pencil to draw a line on the top facing side of the egg will make it easier to ensure they are not accidentally rotated. Rotating kills developing embryos.

Also, the light used to candle, make sure it isn't one that gets hot fast...
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PHLdyPayne

those eggs look pretty good... most of them. it's amazing that they can do that. i rescued a mature female that was emaciated and she also produced a clutch of 30 perfectly healthy eggs- all but 3 or 4 babies hatched great. She too had accidentally gotten pregnant. Nature is an amazing thing!!
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4.2 Bearded dragons (Lee,Stumpy,Blackie,Spazz,Lynn,Charlotte)
1 Egyptian Uromastyx (Niles)

Well, I'll keep monitoring them and we'll see what happens.I'll make sure to let everyone know if we're expecting babies.
By the way, here's a pic of my female. You can see how small she is, so it was a real suprise learning that the previous owners were actually using her for breeding.

Eggs look good to me!