Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got some collards and 2 of the females look pretty gravid, I have 2 of them and a male in a 40 breeder on newspaper, with bricks, tile, 120f basking spots etc, other gravid female is in a 48"x12"x12" with a male set up the same.

I was going to put in a laying box with a mix of sand and dirt but what are the odds they will use it? My LTC female Uro only uses hers half the time and just dumps them other times so I am nervous being new and stressed they will do the same.

Or should i put the 2 gravid ones in a smaller, 30x12x16 or 24x18x12 alone until they lay?

Hi, Collared girls are all different, some are the finest moms and use the lay box, or area, that you set up for them. Some just scatter the eggs everywhere. I used to do elaborate lay boxes, when I first started breeding MANY MANY years ago lol, but I find they just like damp sand under a cave they use most of the time. or a pile of damp sand in a corner that they have started to dig in.

In any case if you want to make sure your eggs are safe, yes, put the girls in a smaller tank when close to lay time, and just have a large damp area, pile of sand, for them to dig in. They will move all the sand right down to the glass, lay, and then use the sand to push back or cover up the eggs.

I wish you all the best with your girls and hope all the eggs are viable. let us know :0)
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards

Here are some pics of the 2 gravid ones, one i a know is gravid but too sure on the second?
I put them in a 12x12x48 with a lot of damp sand at one end and a low hide they can dig under.

Try again, I'm not seeing anything , but what you told me it looks like sounds good :0)
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards

Ok these should work, sorry about the size, they looked much better on my phone.

What do you think of them Eve? Does the second one look gravid?

Second pic of the second female

Both females look gravid but especially the first one, caught her soaking in the water dish today and she is not very active, but looks like there was a lot of digging going on this morning.
All the females ate today but the males still aren't very interested in food, and the males still jump at the tops of the tanks trying to escape, 3 sides are covered in black paper, how does it usually take for them to acclimate?
And Eve do you use MVB bulbs or tubes for UVB for them?

I use the tubes/flouresant bulbs 10.0 reptisun or repti-glo

I used to use to use the Mercury Vapor bulbs until I fried our circuit box, just was too much heat I was using for that room. Anyway My reptile room is now on a separate circuit but I still do not use the Mercury Vapors, They just see to get so freakin hot, I do not like them. When You have to run a lot of heat lamps they just scare me.

Anyway yea your girls both look gravid. Best wishes with them, hope to see some lil ones soon :0)
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards

Seems to be, she's go the gravid blush colors, and wide through the middle.

She seems to have a really thin tail and boney hip area/ tail base. Was she thin before becoming gravid?
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards

Thanks! I am using 10.0 tubes so glad they produce enough UVB for them.

I have only had them a little over a week so I think they were caught gravid, they did not eat the first few days but are packing away the food now, and I am dusting with calcium and multi vitamins of course. I have tried giving them a light spray to get them to drink but they don't drink or lick it off the rocks/glass, they have a water bowl and i have seen the real gravid female soaking so i hope they are hydrated enough.

The males though are still high strung even though they have plenty of bricks, low hides, logs etc and the sides covered in black paper they still leap up at the top screen/lights a lot, and one now is starting to get nose rub it looks like, is there anything else i can do to help them acclimate?

Hi, Be careful of the one that's getting the nose rub. That can get really bad if they continue to jump and smash that already raw nose. Put some neopsorin (without pain medicine) that can be harmful to lizards, so use the ORIGINAL only on it.

Sometimes changing the stuff around in the tank, makes them more observant, they seem to investigate the tank and all the stuff in different places. Takes their mind off jumping for awhile, lol. Just move things every couple days and see if it helps. Sounds crazy but does help.

I have never closed off the sides or put paper over them and I have had many wild caught through the years. They eventually stop (glass dancing) and if they jump up to the top , I never really worried my lights were on the outside and I figured they were safe they just needed to jump back down when they were ready.
When they get used to you , you can let them out and let them run a bit. Block off your tub drain and put a towel in the tub and let them run in there sometimes times. They are safe, they can not get out or get lost under anything. Sit down hang your arm in and let them get used to your hand. The tamer they get the more calm they become, the less jumping, and smashing into the glass they will do.
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards

Wile I was out yesterday the larger female, the one in the first pics, laid her eggs, she had been digging the last few days and moved all he sand i piled at the one end of the tank, i put 2 bricks forming an L in one corner and filled it with sand then put a wider flat brick on top leaving one end open for her to dig under it but she did not use it at all, there was also a low hide which she did dig under and lay one egg but it was drier under it then i thought so not sure if it is still good but put in just damp vermiculite in the incubator at 84f. She laid the other 3 eggs on the hot end in the corner on a tile right near the light, one was broken and the other 2 cooked.

I was spraying the pile of sand and low hide on the cool end of the tank, but after digging threw it was still very dry so i will spray it more and hope the second female uses it.

And I am thinking of putting a small square container with a lid on it to help keep the sand damp at the hot end as well.

The female that laid looks good though, and was eating dusted superworms when i got home.

Ahhh that stinks, but it happens, maybe her next clutch will be okay. Should lay in a bout 2 - 3 weeks again.

Keep us updated buddy!
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards

Thanks EVE!
Unfortunately the one egg i put in the incubator already went bad.
The male seemed interested in her soon after she laid but i don't think they mated, though i guess she could have stored sperm from an earlier mating?
The males are starting to settle down now and jump at the tops less, the one has put on a lot of weight too, but their heads remain a darker colour and they were yellow when i got them, they have 10% UVB tubes and regular basking bulbs, is it the lighting that is the problem or have they still not settled in yet?

Yes she can lay more eggs without mating again.

As far as the males and color, 2 things come to mind.... are they warm enough? Usually get darker when cooler than they were. Check your temps. And they coul;d be ready to shed, they get dark, look dirty- ish, then shed and WA - Lah light again :0)
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Eve
suncharmers@yahoo.com
eva@suncharmers.com
Suncharmers Colorful Collareds & Lotsa Leopards