Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I currently have a female eastern collared lizard. My male passed away two weeks ago. They are at my mothers house right now and she called and told me that the female is starting to get orange bars. I never witnessed any copulation and they havent even been brumated. I am not sure whether or not she is wc. Could she be getting ready to lay some eggs? Maybe she has retained sperm. I have only had her for about 6 months.

Mike

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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.0 Bearded Dragon (german giant)
0.1 Bearded Dragon (orange)
1.2 Bearded Dragon (red sandfire X yellow pastel/red sandfire)
1.1 Bearded Dragon (Citrus X yellow pastel)

When you get a chance, you'll want to get back for a visit, and make sure she has a good place to lay.

John E...

Ps...I'll paste this in here again...

I call a nesting box, the area within the tank I prepare for my female to lay in. I usually don't use a box at all. I place a brick (normal rectangular) all the way on the left back wall, and another all the left side, at right angles to it...this leaves a space in the middle of the two bricks to hold about 3" of sand. When you do this, you wil find the sand will not be held back in the front. I simply add a vertical flat rock to a portion of the front to hold the sand in. I then dampen the sand, and mix it with my hands until it is damp throughout. Not dripping wet, with standing water, but damp enough to clump when squeezed. I acually mix it very similar to my geckos moisture consistency. After dampening the sand, I place a large flat rock, or terre-cotte flower pot base over the area.

Make sure to leave a noticable entrance into the area. When she gets closer to laying time, start checking the area. When she lays, she will be noticable skinny...Scary skinny Don't worry, she will be ready to resume eating again soon. I forgot to mention...a good sign she is nearing the time to lay, is her decrease in appetite. She will decrease eating, then stop...at the same time, she will start digging more often, or hanging out in the prepared area. I don't worry too much about temps of the area, since I will move them ASAP after she lays them. I have found, if laid on top of a under-tank heater, the eggs will often stick to the bottom. Under the rock or dish, it protects them from too much heat, since they will be buried anyway. I usually have my egg laying area beneath one side of the tank, under the incandescent. The rock on top gets pretty warm, but I highly doubt the temp of the sand gets very warm at all.

For the egg box used in incubation, I use Perlite as a medium. I started using Perlite, because I can't find Vermiculite around here anymore. I put about 3" of Perlite into a deli-cup container. I add water until it is all moist. The material is quite different from Vermiculite, as it will not feel very soft/wet. The best feature of the product, is you will be able to see cleary the water level in the deli-cup. I wet it evenly, then keep the water level at least 1" below the bottom of the eggs. You can then watch the level, and add more water as needed. Very cool feature. Hope this helps you out.

Thanks,

How do you think she is gravid? Could she be retaining sperm from when she was wild? My mother never mentioned any copulation. Here is a old pic of her and the recently deceased male. She was much larger than he.

Mike

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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.0 Bearded Dragon (german giant)
0.1 Bearded Dragon (orange)
1.2 Bearded Dragon (red sandfire X yellow pastel/red sandfire)
1.1 Bearded Dragon (Citrus X yellow pastel)

They look very much like some offspring (somewhere down the line) of Mike McCambridg's lizards...referred to as Bluestars. I think you are in the Chicago suberbs, and Mike frequently let his lizards go to stores in the area. Where did you pick them up, and I may be able to tell you the liklihood of those being bluestars. Did the petstore owner say they were wild??? Both the male and the female look like typical "Bluestars."

She could be gravid with, or without mating. The sperm has nothing to do with egg development. They are like chickens...they will produce eggs that are infertile if they were not fertilized. It is definately possible she mated already, before your maled died. Perhaps he died the ultimate death?

The male came from a Petco but I dont remember which one. The female came from Chicago Reptile house. Are you saying she might just lay infertile eggs? Also I would be interested in any collareds you produce this year. I would be willing to have them shipped or we could meet halfway.

Mike
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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.0 Bearded Dragon (german giant)
0.1 Bearded Dragon (orange)
1.2 Bearded Dragon (red sandfire X yellow pastel/red sandfire)
1.1 Bearded Dragon (Citrus X yellow pastel)

She could definatley produced non-fertile eggs. If I'm lucky enough to get fertile eggs myself this year, I'd be glad to help you out. I just don't know if my male is interested this year. I may have three females worth of infertile eggs What a shame!!

I may have to steal his females for a few days until he misses them.

Here is my old Bluestar pair...I have since gotten rid of them.

For more of my pics, go to the link...

and log in to my albums with the following information:

Log-in ID: aqflame35
Guest Password: john

More of my albums

Very nice!

You certainly have some nice collareds. Where did you find your females? It took me two months to get a hold of one. Also, love that chuckwalla... I have been looking for a pair of those for about 6 months

Mike
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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.0 Bearded Dragon (german giant)
0.1 Bearded Dragon (orange)
1.2 Bearded Dragon (red sandfire X yellow pastel/red sandfire)
1.1 Bearded Dragon (Citrus X yellow pastel)

I collected the other two and male myself. I got the chuckwalla from a friend of mine. It is actually a hybrid redback/Nevada...it should get more interesting as he grows LOL.

John