Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a set up where I have 4 female dragons set up with a male dragon. ONe female was going around the cage digging so I put some moist vermiculite in a bowl inside the cage. She immediately started to dig into the substrate and laid 3 eggs. One egg was ok but the others were very weak shelled and when I found them they were broken. This was about 2 weeks ago. This morning I found more eggs in the cage just laid on the floor with one good egg and several smaller than normal eggs. All of the eggs had a spongy type feel to them and the small eggs were about 1/2 the size of a normal dragon egg. She eats good and is acting fine. Can someone tell me what is going on??? Thanks

I am still trying to get comparative pics of "good" fertile eggs and "bad" infertile eggs. I have a dragon that is laying eggs a lot. She just lays them where ever, but has not mated. In your case, I am thinking it might be the others in the cage that are bothering her. Are you supposed to put her in her own cage once she is gravid? I am not expert, by far, but it was just a thought. I'd want privacy if I was laying eggs! LOL.
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------Misty-------

Yea that could be the problem and I am preparing another cage just for her. Thanks for the thoughts.

3-5 eggs is a rather low yield for bearded dragons. With an average clutch size of 10 or more, your female is really underlaying. This could be nothing, but since the condition of the eggs are soft shelled, thin walled and breaking easily, my concern is she is not getting enough calcium into her system and being used by her body to shell the eggs. With 4 other dragons in the cage, she may not be getting all the food she needs. I suggest getting her out of the community cage and into a cage on her own. This way it is much easier to monitor how much greens she is eating, and how much dusted insects and time on the basking spot with good UVB lights shining on her.

Also, a bowl isn't a good egg laying container. A medium sized rubbermaid or sterlite container arou nd 2' long by 16"x14" give or take afew inches in any direction is much better. Fill it up with moist vermiculite and plain potting soil (without any added chemicals, fertilizers etc). Mix soil and vermiculite completely and add water till you can squeeze it together to form clumps and no water can be squeezed out. Mount a hooded light on one end or have it set so the light can shine over one area of the tub to warm the sand. The sand mix should be 12" or more deep, this way she has plenty of area to dig down into to lay her eggs.

it might be a good ideal to take her to a vet to check her blood calcium levels, if they are really low, it will need to be address as the dragon can easily die from too low calcium levels, especially when gravid. Also, it would be good to have the vet check to make sure she isnt' retaining eggs and becoming egg bound. Having eggs rupture in her birthing canel can cause life threatening problems.

Finally, what size is the female and how old? If she is too young or getting close to 5-6 years, it is not good to breed her at all. Also, if she is small and underweight, that can also cause health problems for her. A female dragon should be at least 15 months old (many recommend 18months or older) before being bred the first time. SHe should also be at least 350g and over 16" to help prevent small bearded dragons flooding the market. Since dragons should mature at lengths over 20" having small ones breed together will result in smaller babies and thus, smaller dragons.
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PHLdyPayne