need info a.s.a.p.

[yager_ps]

I recently bought a female bearded dragon a month ago... She had just produced a clutch at the old owners home.

Last night I saw her digging frantically so I seperated her from her female tank mate and put her in a seperate tank with approx. 7" of sand / potting soil mix. Oh couse a basking lamp and other things were added.

When I came home from school, she has dug herself a tunnel. Now I have some ideas of what to do next. I have been kind of prepared in case she does lay more. I half expected it. I know they can store sperm for multiple lays. I have an incuabator set-up, its running.

Please let me know your oppinions on things like.
Incubation temp,
Incubation medium,
Do I give her privacy, (don't disturb)
Do I feed her anything or wait till she lays,
How do I extract eggs,

I have lots of questions, really want to make sure its least stressful as possible on her,

[ChristinaM]

quickie answers for ya:

- let her lay her eggs and bury them.
- when she's done, remove her to a temp enclosure and offer her warmth, food and water.
- carefully dig out the eggs.
- I use vermiculite as an incubation medium, moistened but not dripping. Make a thumb imprint and put the egg in it, so its 3/4 coverred.
- incubation temps 80-86F, with 82-84F being optimal. Anything higher than 86F can mean death to the eggs.
- once eggs are settled, go back and check on mama......she'll be dirty, so a nice warm bath would be great.
- offer her lots of food. If she wants to eat 30 crickets, let her. She needs to get her strength up real fast for any future clutches.

Good luck :)

[varanus69]

i agree with christineM .i use a soft paint brush to carefully remove the dirt from the eggs.....My wife says i look like an archialogist (sp*). I am not so sure the eggs are as delicate as most people think, i will admit i am not an expert or have 15 biology degrees. The average temp that you said is good but i had some serious problems with this incubator (the last time it will be used) I had the temp drop to 70 degrees and spikes to over 100 for hours and possibly a day or so on 1 occasion and all but 1 eggs hatched and are doing awesome....I evan got 1 pinstripe baby out of the deal.Any other thoughts on egg sencitivity?

[buffalo_dragons]

So did she lay some ?

Give us some news please, and Good Luck !!

[ChristinaM]

Originally posted by varanus69
i agree with christineM .i use a soft paint brush to carefully remove the dirt from the eggs.....My wife says i look like an archialogist (sp*). I am not so sure the eggs are as delicate as most people think, i will admit i am not an expert or have 15 biology degrees. The average temp that you said is good but i had some serious problems with this incubator (the last time it will be used) I had the temp drop to 70 degrees and spikes to over 100 for hours and possibly a day or so on 1 occasion and all but 1 eggs hatched and are doing awesome....I evan got 1 pinstripe baby out of the deal.Any other thoughts on egg sencitivity?

LOL, I can definately picture the digging.
Myself, luckily I'm usually home and see where they lay.
Once done I just use my hands to scoop out the dirt around the area until I see egg. Yes, I admit, I've poked eggs quite roughly by accident, with no probs. I try to carefully take them out. I do not bother with placing them in the exact same way they were laid. To decide placement, I candle the eggs and look for the circular spot that indicts they are fertile, and place that side up.

All in all, I do not treat my eggies as extremely fragile.
I believe temp drops are ok, lower than recommended is ok, but higher "can" mean death to the developing embryo. I use can lightly, as I'm certain in their natural habitat, the eggs aren't at a constant temp of 84F.

I think egg sensitivity is definately an interesting topic.
I try to be careful with my eggs. But yes, I've poked em, rolled em, dropped em.......and funnily, all have hatched out perfect lil dragons :D

[yager_ps]

Sorry for keeping everyone in the dark (been at work alot) She layed 25 eggs on Saturday!!!
About 6 were infertile but all the good ones are in the incubator at present. Stupid me used a sand mix on the first day and they got a litttle dehydrated bit are now in vermiculite with a moss type stuff on them. The moss is only moist. I guess no water should be touching eggs right?
My dragon was a liitle stressed out and I was really worried about her but she is doing fine and back to her old self.
Thanks everyone for your replys...

Any info which I havent mentioned will still be appriciated

[buffalo_dragons]

That s correct. It needs to be moist but not soggy.

It seems you re having fun.

[buffalo_dragons]

By the way I hope you are and will be taking plenty of pictures...