Gravid Beardie's Help

[Kyro]

Hi everyone, i'm after a bit of advice regarding the two new gravid beardies I have. They were last with the male around the 30th July & are both definately gravid as you will see by the pics but neither seems to want to lay even though it's been about 26 days.
They have both been really restless for about a week & climb the glass from about 10am to 4pm, with a bit of resting & basking in between. I wouldn't really call what they are doing digging but surely it's something to do with being gravid because they weren't doing it a week ago?
Each girl is set up with a deep laybox in her enclosure of sand/soil which I have mounded at one side & dug a tunnel in. I've tried moving the box closer to the heat, & away from the heat but they still aren't interested. Are they not ready yet or not happy with something in the set up?
Is there anything else I should try?

 

[Twiggz]

Doesn't seem to be anything wrong as such. You will probably fine they just aren't quite ready as yet. My girl last year didn't drop her initial clutch till 5 weeks after mating with the male. I wouldn't be to concerned with digging a tunnel for them yourself either. you will find they usually do a few little test holes first before digging deep for the lay site.

 

[Kyro]

Thanks Twiggz, I was a bit worried because 21 days seems to be around the normal lay time from what I can gather but I guess not

 

[Chris1]

when i thought Kaida might be knocked up and guy who breeds beardies alot told me that it would take 25-45 days to lay depending on her ovulation cycle.

if they start looking in pain or stressed then worry.

 

[Kyro]

I don't think they could go another 20 days based on their fat bellies, well I hope not any way.
The other worry which I forgot to mention is that they won't eat anything, i've offered greens, woodies & crickets but neither has eaten for about a week. Don't they usually only go off their food for a few days before they lay?

 

[Chris1]

try and get in touch with JasonL

the not eating part sounds wrong,...but i dont have any personal experience with that so dont take my word for it.

 

[snakenurse]

I had a Beardie a few yrs back that held her eggs over winter. She was Gravid in feb/march but didnt lay till aug. All eggs were fertile and hatched out, in fact she had 5 clutches that season and was only with a male once! They may just not be 'ready' yet. Females can retain sperm so even though it may be 26days now since they have been with the male, they may have not become gravid at that time. Sounds like they are getting close though with the restlessness. As long as they have plenty of sand to dig and lay in, they shoudl eb ok.
Hopefully you will have some eggs soon

 

[levis04]

i had one female do this last yr, so i kept putting her in her laying box and block her off for few hrs a day, make sure she has plenty of air flow, i just used a cricket lid at the entrance with gap at top for air flow. after 2 days of this she laid fertile eggs.

 

[Kyro]

Thanks everyone, this is the first time i've bred anything so i'm getting a bit stressed about it & the constant scratching around is driving me nuts

 

[gregcranston]

I've bred beardies a number of times, and from what I could tell mine usually take about 3.5-4.5 weeks to lay the eggs after mating, so hopefully yours will lay soon. I've found that they much prefer a blacked out lay box (with entrance hole) so as to get some privacy. One of my females doesn't eat for about 3-4 days before she lays but the other eats up until the day she lays, so I guess they are all different. They can go for quite a while without eating but too much over a week would worry me, but I'm not sure on that. Hopefully yours will lay and you can start fattening them up again soon. First beardie clutch nerves, I remember those days ! Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Kyro]

Thanks for the tips everyone
I went out for a few hours earlier today & came home to 23 eggs from the female in the first pic A few off the eggs stuck a bit on the bottom of the tub but I carefully managed to get them off, what do you all use to line the laybox so this doesn't happen?

Here's a quick pic of the eggs before I moved them

 

[Chris1]

baking paper should work?

congrats on teh eggs! bet ur feeling relieved!

 

[Kyro]

Thanks Chris, I'm very relieved, I just feel sorry for her she looks so thin.

 

[Chris1]

wish i could send some of chubbys blubber! shes got plenty to share!

time for lots of yumy roaches for mummy beardy!

 

[Saz]

Your laying medium looks too wet in the photo, that may have put them off laying. Mine won't lay if the sand I put in for them is too wet or too dry.

Congrats on the clutch, good luck with them!

 

[Kyro]

Thanks Saz, I will definately remember that for next time.

 

[Kyro]

Just a quick update for those that are interested, my other female layed 19 healthy looking eggs at lunch time today So that makes 42 eggs in the incubator so far