Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard that this can happen. My beardie ate a ton for weeks, quit eating all of the sudden for like 4 weeks, then popped out a bunch of eggs. I am sure that this is normal and the eggs can't be fertile, but what do I do? Do I just remove them? Does she want them in there? Some advice please.

Thanks.

Yes it's normal although an odd time of year. And yes you can just remove them. I would freeze them just to be safe before discarding them.

Are you using a nest box? If so what is it and what is it filled with? She will most likely lay multiple clutches and infertile eggs have a much higher risk for egg binding. I had a 7 month old lay 5 clutches of infertiles this year.

I am not using a nesting box, as this is all real new to me. Her enclosure is filled with sand and I saw her digging and digging and digging, so I thought I would see what was going on. So I sifted around and found a total of about 25 infertile eggs. Will she do this every year? When is the proper time for this to happen? How long do they not eat for?

You need to supply a nest box. You were lucky this time. Generally they eat like crazy as the eggs develop and then stop when they are ready to lay them. They should lay them within a couple days after they stop eating. The risk is that BD's often will not lay them until a suitable nesting site can be found.

A nest box can be a plastic shoe box filled with warm damp sand or soil. It should be moist enough so she can dig without it collapsing but not so wet or packed that she cannot dig easily. I use separate enclosures as nest boxes otherwise I'd put the biggest container you can fit in her regular enclosure. Also making a starter hole usually helps too.

BD's mate and lay eggs in the early spring to early summer in the wild.

Well thanks for your help. I feel like a total idiot, not knowing what was happening. I have always heard that it MAY happen. The way that most people talked about the laying of infertile eggs, I assumed that it was a rare thing and would most likely not happen at all. So I did not learn about it all. Will this happen yearly? Does it happen with all BD females? Should I be worried that there are still eggs in her? She has quit digging and resumed eating, although she only eats a little bit of crickets and no veggies at all.

Thanks again.

I feel it's more likely than not when BD's are well taken care of. Of my 3 unmated females this year, 2 hatched 8/5/07 and one hatched 5/1/07 one of the females hatches 8/5/07 laid 4 clutches of infertiles while the other 2 never became gravid. The 3 live together in the same enclosure so their conditions are identicle.

All my older females have mates and laid fertiles.

If she's eating I'd say your fine. Just make sure you give more than enough calcium and water. Shelling takes a lot of calcium and they pull it from their bones if the supply is inadequate. I'd offer water from a dropper. How much is "a little bit of crickets"?

Try superworms, silkworms, butterworms or hornworms...sometimes dragons just don't want crickets anymore...but something knew catches their interest and they will pounce on it.
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PHLdyPayne

She started eating just fine again, even started eating her favorite veggie corn. I know that they get bored of one thing so I always switch when she does thanks for your help I will have to be careful next time she just quits eating around the summer time.