Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, my girl has gone off food for a while now, and she's looking kinda bloated. She has still been as active as usual, if not more, and is not showing any obvious signs of RI, however I've bumped up her temp and humidity just to be on the safe side.

Now her enclosure is entirely water on the bottom, so right now she'll have nothing to lay her eggs in when the time comes, so I need some suggestions as to what I can do for nesting. I've been thinking about putting in either an empty ice cream pail or a big tupperware container full of either eco-earth type stuff, or a sandy soil mix, but I'm looking for some first hand experience so I know what's best.

I need to get this taken care of right away as she's been like this for a couple weeks and I'm concerned about her becoming eggbound.

Thanks.

Here are some pics of her and the enclosure.

Whole enclosure:

Bottom Half:

Top Half:

Gravid dragon:

On the left hand side of the cage below the big leaf it looks like you have a little ledge of wood..could you make a shelf across there and put a container of washed playsand on it? (I would make a ledge on the edge of the shelf so the container wouldn't fall off. You will need to be sure that she can get to the container of sand of course!

What I have used for a container is one of those plastic wash basins with a second one inverted over it that I have cut a hole in the side of large enough for the female to get into. I drill two holes in the rim and use plastic tie wraps to hold them together so they won't fall apart.

Here's the type of container I mean...
http://aids-daily-living.medical-supplies-equipment-company.com/product/PPF/ID/3786_Wash Basin/new_prod_full.asp

Good luck!

Will the eggs be fertile? Do you know how to incubate them if they are?

I actually just picked up a single basin like that while I was out. It looks like it should just wedge in there tightly so hopefully I won't have to worry about putting in any sort of shelf to hold it up.

I've been reading that soil or sandy soil is the best, as opposed to just playsand. I have some eco earth type stuff soaking right now, and I do have play sand here. I was planning on just going with straight eco earth but I could easily mix some sand in there as well.

Well, I've got the washtub full of eco earth in there now, and as soon as I put it in there she started digging like mad. She's kicked a lot of dirt into the water and it's going to bung up the filter, but I'm not really too concerned about that.

She also ate a couple superworms too which makes me feel better. Still a lot less than normal but something is better than nothing.

I also forgot to mention before, she is kept alone, so the eggs will be infertile.

Here's a couple pics of her in there.

One more bit of advice...don't let her see you watching her when she is digging...she might abandon the site. If she does this a few times, she could become eggbound.

Good luck with her!

Do you know how to incubate the eggs?

She's alone, so the eggs will be infertile, so at this point anyway, incubation isn't a concern.

Even though these eggs will be infertile, my advice still stands about not letting her see you watching her while she is digging!

Duely noted, I'll do my best to make sure she's left alone.

Well, I noticed my girl acting a little differently a little while ago...instead of rooting around in her lay box, she was down in the water and very active. She was kicking and scratching a lot like she does when she's shedding. Anyway, after she was out of the water I took a closer look at her, and she didn't seem as bloated, so I dug around in the lay box and found this:

She ate a couple dusted superworms after that, but soon lost interest, so I'm guessing she might still have a couple eggs left?

On average how many do they usually lay? What kind of time frame does it take to lay them all?

How long has she been alone?
That egg looks almost worth incubating. Are you sure it can't be fertile?

They usually lay 5 to 10 eggs, but the first time it can be less.

She's been alone for at least 2 years...ever since I got her and she was itty bitty, so there's no chance it could be fertile.

No chance for sure then!
Are you going to mate her some day or just keep her as a pet?

Well for the moment she'll just be kept as a pet. In a year or two when my living situation changes and I'm in a place with more room I may consider getting a male and breeding them, but right now I just don't have any more room to spare for another enclosure that size.

I am curious about your knowlege of the eggs

My beloved Claire....one of 6 adult chinese water dragons has died on Sunday, not exactly sure why but we c-sectioned her and incubated the 9 eggs......will they make it??

So sorry that you lost one of your dragons. Its not easy losing a pet.

Regading the eggs..it will depend on how close to being laid they were as to whether they will survive. Also, when they are taken without being laid, they are usually more prone to mold and bacteria.

All I can say is that its worth a try and maybe with a little luck you will have some of Claire's babies to remember her by.

Good luck!