Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is Daisy, the smaller of the two female capra's I obtained. All of the dragons have been treated with Panacur, as a result of detecting strongyloides in a fecal. Daisy has continued to plump up, despite effectively going off feed for the last 4 days (She took two crawlers with some coaxing on Monday) The other female and male are steady eaters. Can anyone provide some insight on what may be normal prior to egg-laying? Is going off feed to be expected? (gotta read Marcia's article again - but don't recall if it was mentioned)
Also, any opinions on the white patch on her side? I originally just suspected dry skin, or dried fecal matter from another dragon prior to my obtaining them - now I'm not so sure. Beginning to think it may be fungal.

Erowens belly is slightly larger than this
but the same eye shape, and it just hangs down like it is heavy
SHe has had one of 4 treatments for the Parasites (only every 2 weeks, but that is what the Vet said), and seemed better the first few days, but has gone back to NOT being better since (does this make sense?)
her belly is big and heavy like this one, but actually more big, she stays on a branch so it is between me and her belly, so I have the branch to compare it to
*BTW I hated being pregnant. Loved having the kids once they came, but getting them was BLEGH*
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

Hey ecb,

Daisy's belly is actually bigger than it appears in the photo as well. I palpated her, and then my other female after taking the photo (and realizing the pic didn't do her paunch justice). There are definitely contents in Daisy, that cannot be felt in Zoe. She is showing no signs of interest in the nest box - but the not eating has me concerned.

OMG same here
I bought her in the late spring, and her belly got bigger and bigger after the (bad) Vet treated her for Parasites
but as you can see in my earlier post she is staying on her stick, and I never see her move from it, but the crickets do disappear slowly, and I keep putting some RWs or NCs in her dish and they go after a while (maybe escape), but I think (HOPE) she is eating them
her whole tank has dirt as a substrate so she has PLEANTY of room to dig, but its been months since I got her
She has had times when she was MUCH more active, even running around, but not lately
Lets stay in touch on this
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

It is normal for the female to stop eating just before, or up to a week before, laying the eggs. It is not normal for them to stop eating before then. In fact, most of my girls are pigs when they are gravid.

Another thing to look for is that the belly will tighten, or loosen, not sure which it is, a week or so before she is ready to lay. When this happens you will see definite oval lumps in her belly. I guess you could compare this to a woman where the baby drops into position just before birth. I kind of think that is what happens is that the eggs drop into position. Before my Jewel laid her eggs I could feel lumps, but not see them, clear up into the soft area under the ribs. I think they are pretty much full body until they drop for laying. Once they drop the belly is so full of eggs that they show through the skin.

When this becomes visible I like to make sure she is kept quiet, no males around, substrate is moist and deep enough. I have had females who wouldn't lay their eggs until the soil was the right moisture.

For Elizabeth, if you got your girl in late spring she should be showing lumps by now or very soon. If she was gravid when you got her you should be able to feel the eggs by now by palpating her. If she still feels soft and you don't feel the eggs she is probably just bloated from the parasites, meds, or some other cause. It is also possible that she could be gravid but that the eggs are not fertile. It is possible for them to develop infertile eggs in the absence of a male. If this is the case it is hard to say how far she could be.

For zrho, I am guessing that the spot is fungal as well. I am not sure what would be causing it. It probably started as a scrape or bite or something. I would recommend consultation with a vet on that one. They may want to take a scraping to see what it is for certain. You could probably treat it with an otc anti-fungal product but perhaps the vet would be able to determine if it is just surface or if it is systemic.

Good luck to you both, hope they lay nice eggs and/or get well soon.

Marcia

and will certainly keep you posted.

Regards,

Don M.

I just reread Marcia's site - as opposed to the Reptiles Article. I am confident that given the behavior that Marcia describes, that Daisy is gravid. Going off feed and being generally listless. This of course hasn't lessened my worrying
If it helps ecb, I can tell you that my big female Zoe, has staked out her spot in the enclosure and has not budged for 3 days. I have been hand feeding the animals with crawlers and leaving a dish of mealies and waxies out. I feel like the animals are settling in well, and generally remain absolutely motionless for hours, if not days. Makes me want to nap when I observe them. They seem to be making much more use of vertical perches as opposed to horizontal, and generally take up perches where they are visually concealed by plants. They are generally calm, but Randy likes to hiss and show me his gum line if I approach him with a worm, or my hand - it's all show. The other observation I have made, is that I have yet to see any of the animals drink, or make use of the water basin. I mist heavily twice a day, and have not observed them taking in any water. I'm assuming that a diet of worms provides a good deal of water. Despite the inactivity, I can watch them endlessly ... then wake up and watch them some more.

Cool, I do not feel quite so bad now
it has been just 4 months since I got her (timing is right)
I got her in June (again timing may be right)
and she is actring JUST like that, the most upright stick in the tank, and does not appear to move EVER!
if I put food in front of her she just closes her eyes, and turns her head a bit
I have 2 copies of the caresheet and sexing sheets, and am going to read them cover to cover tonight at the Vet before I give him his copy (I want him to have all the info I do so he can know MORE than me so he can fill in the gaps when I need him to diagnose something in one of my animals. Make sense?)

oh, BTW I know I canot spell for bean, forgive me in advance, it helps
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

I can't spell for beans either so I usually use word to spell check for me

Marcia