Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I was reading your posts about nesting monitors.
I have a pregnant rudicollis that is about to lay.
She has been digging in the same spot for 6 days now.
She is still eating and looking well. She does have a thinner tail though...
How long does an average monitor dig testholes, before she lays?
I have made some adjustments yesterday, increased substrate humidity and heat. The male is still with her, but she is not aggessive towards him and he stays away from her. Is there a downside to removing him from the enclosure? They never ever fight, not even over food.
Should I remove the male?
How long do I let her dig?
How much chance is there to get eggbound at her first clutch?
I am a vet so I could get the eggs out by injection or surgery, but I really dont want to of course if not absolutely nessecary.

Thanks, Jasper

Ok, no Vet!

She knows what she wants and you have to provide the right conditions!!! Remove the male....give her a cage to nest in that has a lot of substrate!!!! Mulched leaves, sand, soil seems a good choice for most people. It has to be deep and as most as the dirt you may find in the ground 8" down. If the substrate is too cool or she does not like what she is feeling she will keep looking for another spot. Being trapped in a cage will not offer her much variation! i generally provide temps around 84 - 86 for the substrate. I would load her cage full of bedding and then put stuff on top of it to allow her to burrow under and make a nest chamber....No male to chase away!

If she is eating a lot I don't know if that is good... generally I see appetites smaller when they are stuffed with eggs. But, this is not an absolute rule. BLack Roughs are funny critters... Heat the substrate up if it is too cold. If she keeps digging she is either not ready to lay or wants something different! I generally see them digging as early as 10 days before laying but sometimes they may wait a bit longer and really start digging within 5 days of laying.... I don't think I have been that astute to write down the days. It just seems to be what I notice.

What is her nest cage like?

Kevin

>>Hi,
>>
>>I was reading your posts about nesting monitors.
>>I have a pregnant rudicollis that is about to lay.
>>She has been digging in the same spot for 6 days now.
>>She is still eating and looking well. She does have a thinner tail though...
>>How long does an average monitor dig testholes, before she lays?
>>I have made some adjustments yesterday, increased substrate humidity and heat. The male is still with her, but she is not aggessive towards him and he stays away from her. Is there a downside to removing him from the enclosure? They never ever fight, not even over food.
>>Should I remove the male?
>>How long do I let her dig?
>>How much chance is there to get eggbound at her first clutch?
>>I am a vet so I could get the eggs out by injection or surgery, but I really dont want to of course if not absolutely nessecary.
>>
>>Thanks, Jasper
-----
"Satan™" is a registered trademark of NERD, Inc. Any copyright infringement is punishable by ETERNAL DAMNATION and some other terrible stuff.

Thank you both for your replies.

My cage is 10x4x7, with a 4x3 area with a foot and a half of substrate with a lot of hollow logs on it. There are 2 heat panels, on on the side and one under a log. There are also 2 nest boxes, one heated with thermostate and one unheated but near the main light. She is not interested in the boxes at all.
She is diging in the substrate only and in one spot.

I will remove the male and leave her alone for 3 more days.
If she hasn't laid by then I will think about what to do then.
she still eats, but it is much less than normal and smaller things.

I'll let you know how things are going.

Thanks, Jasper

WOW!!

That's a cage!!!!

Ok, has her tail become a bit skinnier? Does her belly hang a bit low?

She does not sound egg bound...is she a small female or a larger?

Give her a chance..... stop over thinking it!!!!! Did you see any breeding before all of this?

Things may be right on track with such a cage.... if she keeps zeroing on one particular spot and digs til she hits the floor then put a pile of substrate right there and put something on top of it so she may try to dig it out and creat an area to her satisfaction!!!

Kevin
>>Thank you both for your replies.
>>
>>My cage is 10x4x7, with a 4x3 area with a foot and a half of substrate with a lot of hollow logs on it. There are 2 heat panels, on on the side and one under a log. There are also 2 nest boxes, one heated with thermostate and one unheated but near the main light. She is not interested in the boxes at all.
>>She is diging in the substrate only and in one spot.
>>
>>I will remove the male and leave her alone for 3 more days.
>>If she hasn't laid by then I will think about what to do then.
>>she still eats, but it is much less than normal and smaller things.
>>
>>I'll let you know how things are going.
>>
>>Thanks, Jasper
-----
"Satan™" is a registered trademark of NERD, Inc. Any copyright infringement is punishable by ETERNAL DAMNATION and some other terrible stuff.

Hi,

I have moved the male, it took some mice to get him out of his log... He 's about 4 feet and 7 pounds and quite strong I must say.
The female is much smaller, she's well under 3 feet and about 2 1/2 pounds. She is very healthy and strong, just smaller. I had a 4 foot female, but lost her to some sort of ovary infection or malfunction a year ago. That's why I really don't want to lose this female. Since I have bought them 2 years ago I have never seen young animals for sale again here in Europe, they are pretty hard to find. You can find adult WC but I don't want to mess with those...
The female is getting a little bit thinner on her thighs and tail for about a week now, just before she started digging.The belly is starting to hang a bit, but not much.
I did not see any mating before, but I did see them sharing logs the last month or so and they were not doing that before.
I did a quick ultrasound last week and she is full of large eggs.
We will see what happens.

Jasper

Just a matter of the next ten days or so......

Expect to see something if she is gravid..

Do you know what size eggs you saw on the Ultra sound?

Kev

>>Hi,
>>
>>I have moved the male, it took some mice to get him out of his log... He 's about 4 feet and 7 pounds and quite strong I must say.
>>The female is much smaller, she's well under 3 feet and about 2 1/2 pounds. She is very healthy and strong, just smaller. I had a 4 foot female, but lost her to some sort of ovary infection or malfunction a year ago. That's why I really don't want to lose this female. Since I have bought them 2 years ago I have never seen young animals for sale again here in Europe, they are pretty hard to find. You can find adult WC but I don't want to mess with those...
>>The female is getting a little bit thinner on her thighs and tail for about a week now, just before she started digging.The belly is starting to hang a bit, but not much.
>>I did not see any mating before, but I did see them sharing logs the last month or so and they were not doing that before.
>>I did a quick ultrasound last week and she is full of large eggs.
>>We will see what happens.
>>
>>Jasper
-----
"Satan™" is a registered trademark of NERD, Inc. Any copyright infringement is punishable by ETERNAL DAMNATION and some other terrible stuff.

Try to not make too many changes while she is trying to nest. If she cant find a spot she likes, try adding a nest box, it cant hurt.
When you dont have a nesting female try to make more changes, its less stress on her at that point. Its best to have the conditions needed before she needs them (what happened to one of mine).
There was a great rudi keeper here years ago that couldnt get hers to stop breeding, wish she was still here to better help you.