Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

Well it has been 5 weeks since i posted about alabama being possibly gravid. She has continued to swell to the point where i am almost convinced that she is gravid. I have attached a photo of my beatuiful chuckie so that you can help me to decide conclusively if she is or not. She has continued to dig but has paid absolutely no attention to the "laying box" that I put in. I have snce taken it out and replaced it with a 4" deep 12" * 12" area of damp sand under the basking spot that is covered by plywood for her to dig into but she is not interested.

She has been digging out underneath a rock that is laid on top of 2 bits of wood in the cold end of the viv but above the heat mat. I have been spraying this area with warm water. However she has dug right down to the heat mat and has spent the last few nights sleeping there

I am becoming more confused and concerned for her wellbeing if she is gravid and I am concerned that I am not providing an appropriate area for her to lay. :/

Can anyone confirm (as much as you can from a photo) whether you think she is carrying eggs? If so how long now (roughly) until she lays?

Thanks a lot,

Ben

Last year was my first year to hatch chuck eggs but it looks like she is gravid to me.

Thanks for the reply, how long did it take your female to lay from the first time you suspected that she was swelling?

I can't remember exactly but once she got the huge egg lumps it was not very long.

She looks extremely gravid and packed full of eggs. You had better look to the placement of your laying area and the proper heat. Mine lay directly under the lamp but in a completely covered dark box with a little opening to get in and out of. I use vermiculite. You want it to be slightly damp to the touch and a heating pad underneath the box might be what she needs to lay there. She may be headed for the cooler side becuase you put the warmth from below in that area, if I understood your post. Also, she is READY TO DROP. If you don't give her privacy and a good hiding nest box, she will retain her eggs out of stress and become egg-bound. You want to see her digging in the vermiculite like crazy. Is she eating? They usually stop eating within 24-48 hours prior to oviposition. Don't handle her or mess around in her cage once you think you've got it right. Avoid stressing her. She should go in the egg box and dig and eventually come out "thin". That is when you disturb the box to have a look. If there are eggs, do you know how to set them up in a hovabator?? Temp should be 89-92 degrees. Water content in the vermiculite is critical. What material are you using? You have no time to lose!

Hi Maureen,

Thank you for the thorough and very timely reply. I have recived my fine vermiculite this morning ( i chose fine only to find that people generally prefer coarse!) and my hovabator has been running for 48 hours and is holding a really steady temp but i need to tweak it up a bit.

Since i posted last I have replaced the laying box on the hot side with a paving slab sat on 3 pieces of wood mimicing the rock that she was digging under on the cold side but offering her a much larger area underneath and about 3 inch depth of sand. I have positioned it so that it is half on and off the heat mat underneath to give her the choice. I then packed it with warm damp sand leaving a chuckie width gap at one end and a tunnel running in an L shape into the sand so that she can get into it.

I have been spraying under this slab daily with warm water to keep it moist. She has been paying this area lots of attention over the last couple of days and I was up till late last night listening to her digging under there. She has been sleeping in there for the last 4 nights (not digging/sleeping in the other rocky cave at all). So I am now very nervous and watching her like a hawk from the other side of the room. Her appetite has gone and she barely ate yesterday and I don't think she has eaten anything today.

I was going to prepare a box for the eggs inside the hoverbator this evening-should i soak the vermiculite and then wring it out as much as i can? A couple of air holes at each end? As i write she is in and out of the slab casve like a yoyo!

Thanks for your help it is very much appreciated

Ben