Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If a young female becomes eggbound does that necessarily mean that she shouldn't be bred again?The reason I ask is,I was given a really nice pr. of bloodreds by a friend.I bred the female to my male fire,She laid a sizable clutch but,retained 3 eggs.In the mean time she passed 1 but still holds 2.She is currently in shed and I think she'll drop them as she sheds.I been giving her warm swimming sessions in the bathtub.Is there anything I can do next season to prevent this or should she be retired? Thanks for any input!! Jeff

I've heard of females retaining eggs and then breeding successfully again. If she's old or has any other health issues, it might be time to call it quits, but other than that I don't know. My gf had a girl who re-absorbed her eggs last year and bred successfully this year, but that's a bit different. Just don't try to force the eggs out. Our ex-vet did that to one of our girls. She never ate again after that. It was very sad.
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Ethans Den

I believe they have a much higher chance to bind. A good thing to do for next season is to keep her active. Give her lots of things to climb on, climb over. Good muscle tone helps with contractions. Also, it is known that calcium helps in muscle contraction. I would think you could supplement her diet with a little calcium.
Some advice from the "big name" breeders would be great, as the above is just my thoughts and knowledge from the mammal world.

Best of luck getting her to pass those last two
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****Misty****

www.sneakyserpents.com

"Due to intense Mind fog, all thoughts have been grounded."

I had my first and only case so far of egg binding last year. I gave that female this season off but I will try to breed her again in 2010.

Jeff-

She can certainly be bred again, just be sure all eggs have been passed beforehand (one way or another). Often, as you've seen, she will gradually get rid of them on her own, but if not some artificial means are called for. For most folks, this means a trip to the vet. Even a female that has had to have eggs surgically removed can still heal and become a productive breeder. One of my best-producing pueblan females became badly eggbound in her first breeding season, and had to have three eggs surgically removed. Now she is fine and a great breeder.

By the way-if an egg is hung up right at the cloaca, in many cases it can be GENTLY massaged out rather easily. I've done this a couple of times, and both females recovered to produce good and trouble-free clutches in future years. Do NOT try this if it is stuck halfway down!
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....