Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello lately my female rhino has been extremely aggressive chasing the male all over the cage and will not let him in the hide box at all. i searched the cage high and low for eggs but find nothing, could this be a false egg laying or something ive been watching her bely since may it never got big and she has never stopped eating. she is normally really mellow and the male is the pain in the ass. anyone have ideas?????

Generally speaking when the female begins chasing the male she has laid eggs and it's that time of year. They are very good at hiding eggs in unusual places. Two years ago that happened to me and I knew she had laid eggs but I LOOKED FOR THEM FOR 2 DAYS WITHOUT SUCCESS. Then Patty happened to look in a concrete black that I never dreamed a lizard would lay eggs in and there were 6 eggs that of course were no good due to time and egg laying spot.You should be able to tell if she has laid or not by her looks but look carefully and EVERYWHERE for the eggs. This year I have almost 50 eggs incubating including a clutch of 6 from the same small female. My 2 larger females each laid 14 eggs ON THE SAME DAY this year...

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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

tomorrow i rip that cage apart, ill look everywhere its just she never got fat or anything and never stopped eating. but ill look high and low.

Just got eggs last Wednesday while away on vacation. She dumped them all over the ground outside even though I had a nest box for her.Luckily our friend checked on them the next day and collected them up and put them in some dirt with a heat pad on top. When I got back two days later, I set them up in an incubator, but I think it was too late and most of the eggs are molding.

Tom
This one should look familiar, She was an offspring of the mating photo in my other post....hatched by KWE in 1998. I have her records...including dates that she laid eggs..She was hatched in California, and is one of the few rhino iguana to have layed eggs in 4 states: CA,NY WY and now FL. Her original name was Metropolis. Next time I am in Florida, I will find her records and send them to you.

She is!!lol..I traded to sell them because I already have so many but Patty loves them also so their here forever. What's a few more Cyclura? You can never have enough. I now have just under 50 eggs and my biggest female is still gravid..Shoot I'll just build more enclosures....
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Females are usually high energy until they lay, Might consider putting the male somewhere else until she has laid. If it is her first year, she may lay late, and if things are not just right, maybe not at all. Make sure you have a nest box with moist soil. Good luck.

ya i have nest box she does dig in it from time to time, i pulled male out. she is so nasty when will it go away? her belly is not big at all.. she just looks the same and her weight is the same.

Maybe never, Some rhino iguanas (especially females) just have or develop aggressive personalities. High protien diets sometimes cause more aggressive behaviour. If she is not big, maybe she is reabsorbing the eggs. Some never lay, some every other year, some every, and if not having a suitable place, will become egg bound. Maybe she is dehydtated - Once inheirited a cuban whose previous owner fed her ground up carrots, and was getting rid of her because she had not lay eggs for several years. The Nubila was severly dehydrated. After soaking in a luke warm bath for a few hours she layed 6 infertile eggs.
Good luck