Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anybody know an estimate of how much weight they will gain while gravid? I have a Female redback who is gravid for sure and I have been weighing her about once a week. I dont know how long she has been gravid so I am trying to figure out when she could lay. I know her normal body weight as well. Only reason I ask is because last year I lost 24 eggs because 2 of my females layed the one day I was out at the Desert I cant let that happen again....Thanks....Travis

Sorry I cant offer anything more precise, but I thought I would offer my (limited!) experience while waiting for other replies!

When my female chuckwallas laid earlier in the year, it was a few weeks after I got them so I couldnt monitor their weight gain from the start. However, just prior to laying it became quite obvious that they were very heavily gravid - the outline of individual eggs became apparent through the skin. After this became noticable it was only a matter of days before they eventually laid. In the last few days beforehand they also did a great deal of persistent and very focused digging in different parts of the cage, and showed great interest in the egg-laying box that I put in the cage. One of them actually laid while I was away for the day, but the eggs were still intact partially buried in the box when I returned.

I dont know if this was of any help at all...depending on how youre housing them I would follow Tgrebs advice and place a fairly deep, damp laying box near to the basking spot in the cage and just monitor them. The eggs should remain intact for several hours after being laid even if youre not around.

As has been stated you will know within a couple of days by how obvious the eggs are and more importantly the amount of digging. If your nest box is close to the basking site and the female is repeatedly digging in it then it won't be long. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!