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Old 07-17-12, 07:20 PM   #1
AjaMichelle
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Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Hi

My savannah monitor seems to be eating her own eggs.

Does anyone have any input?

If so, I can provide further detail.

Thanks in advance!

I've been finding WHOLE intact eggs, as well as small, prune-like remnants, in her poop (water) bowl. These eggs have all been consumed, not laid in the bowl.

Intact Egg One:


Intact Egg Two:


Egg Remnants




My Girl




Photo from last night


She's 15 to 16 months old and exactly 2 feet total length.
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Old 07-17-12, 07:25 PM   #2
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Dissecting Intact Egg Number Two

Dissecting the Second Mystery Egg.MP4 - YouTube
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Old 07-17-12, 07:38 PM   #3
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Infertile - therefore waste not want not
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Old 07-17-12, 07:39 PM   #4
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Well yeah! But I was curious if anyone has anything to add to this... like should I be concerned about anything?
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Old 07-17-12, 08:10 PM   #5
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

I think Crocdoc (David) had good answers.

Can't wait till Gregg sees this one, He and John (squamata concepts) deal with eggs, so maybe he will have something to offer.

I have been following this eagerly, One day Cera will hopefully be laying eggs, so this whole mystery interests me greatly.
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Old 07-17-12, 08:15 PM   #6
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by infernalis View Post
I think Crocdoc (David) had good answers.

Can't wait till Gregg sees this one, He and John (squamata concepts) deal with eggs, so maybe he will have something to offer.

I have been following this eagerly, One day Cera will hopefully be laying eggs, so this whole mystery interests me greatly.
Crocdoc is amazingly helpful! I know that Gregg and John are members here, as well as about five other people that don't seem to frequent HC much anymore.

I was hoping to see if anyone else had any other input to add to what David already told me.

I think this is pretty exciting! I just hope everything is okay with her.
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Old 07-17-12, 09:30 PM   #7
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AjaMichelle View Post
I think this is pretty exciting! I just hope everything is okay with her.
Me too, it's quite obvious that you are extremely fond of her, and I would hate to see anything bad happen at all.
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Old 07-17-12, 10:24 PM   #8
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Egg #2 doesn't look like it has been digested to me. I feed my infertile snake eggs and a few tristis eggs to my ackie and nothing egg like comes out the other end after it goes through digestion. More importantly-where is your female laying these eggs? Is she making an effort to nest them correctly (tunneling under soil to lay). It would seem to me that she is stressing, laying the eggs on the surface, and then consuming them later.
Interested for sure but with details of the enclosure then its all theories. Im curious on what Dave's opinion was.
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Old 07-18-12, 04:08 AM   #9
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AjaMichelle View Post
Well yeah! But I was curious if anyone has anything to add to this... like should I be concerned about anything?
Do you know how they were nested?

That's what id be concerned about getting nesting right is important with varanids.
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Old 07-18-12, 06:40 AM   #10
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorhunter1231 View Post
Im curious on what Dave's opinion was.
Here you go.........

Quote:
Originally Posted by crocdoc
It's not common, but I have seen a female monitor eat some of her own eggs because, apparently, she instinctively 'knew' the eggs were not viable (I say this because the monitor in question, a perentie, had laid normal clutches previously). By all means, search that enclosure for more eggs and if you find any that look viable, incubate them regardless, as there have been instances of parthenogenesis observed in a few monitor species so far. My guess, though, by the thinness of the shell as seen in your video that the eggs were only partially shelled slugs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crocdoc
It doesn't sound to me like they've been nested at all, but laid on the surface somewhere and then eaten. Once females nest them properly they bury them and don't dig them up again.
That doesn't mean you haven't provided proper nesting as there may be other things at play. Females don't always follow normal nesting behaviour with infertile eggs, poorly shelled eggs, although it is always healthier if they do. Was she digging a lot around the enclosure prior to laying these slugs?
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Old 07-18-12, 09:28 AM   #11
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Lol basically the same as I said.

What is surface temp of basking spot and humidity levels?
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Old 07-18-12, 10:49 AM   #12
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Thanks for posting what Crocdoc said!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorhunter1231 View Post
Egg #2 doesn't look like it has been digested to me. I feed my infertile snake eggs and a few tristis eggs to my ackie and nothing egg like comes out the other end after it goes through digestion. More importantly-where is your female laying these eggs? Is she making an effort to nest them correctly (tunneling under soil to lay). It would seem to me that she is stressing, laying the eggs on the surface, and then consuming them later.
Interested for sure but with details of the enclosure then its all theories. Im curious on what Dave's opinion was.
So if you feel like Egg #2 doesn't look totally digested, do you think it was laid in her water bowl?

Quote:
Originally Posted by varanus_mad View Post
Do you know how they were nested?

That's what id be concerned about getting nesting right is important with varanids.
I only know that she's been digging a lot lately and spending more time in and around her burrow, behavior I have never really seen before.
I know it's so important! I did my best to provide what I thought was a proper nesting site. Now I need to figure out what's wrong with it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorhunter1231 View Post
Lol basically the same as I said.

What is surface temp of basking spot and humidity levels?
She has two basking spots that cover her SVL. One is 140*F and the other is 150*F. This wasn't intentional, it just worked out this way. Her ambient humidity is 70 to 80% throughout most of the enclosure and 60% near the basking spot. She has 12 inches of a soil/sand substrate throughout. Her enclosure is 5 feet long, 2 feet deep, and 3 feet tall.

Last I checked, the substrate near the basking spot is 85*F and it's 80*F throughout the rest of the enclosure.

I've been meaning to verify the soil temps but she's been in her burrow so I haven't been able to.
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Old 07-18-12, 12:52 PM   #13
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AjaMichelle View Post
Thanks for posting what Crocdoc said!



So if you feel like Egg #2 doesn't look totally digested, do you think it was laid in her water bowl?



I only know that she's been digging a lot lately and spending more time in and around her burrow, behavior I have never really seen before.
I know it's so important! I did my best to provide what I thought was a proper nesting site. Now I need to figure out what's wrong with it.



She has two basking spots that cover her SVL. One is 140*F and the other is 150*F. This wasn't intentional, it just worked out this way. Her ambient humidity is 70 to 80% throughout most of the enclosure and 60% near the basking spot. She has 12 inches of a soil/sand substrate throughout. Her enclosure is 5 feet long, 2 feet deep, and 3 feet tall.

Last I checked, the substrate near the basking spot is 85*F and it's 80*F throughout the rest of the enclosure.

I've been meaning to verify the soil temps but she's been in her burrow so I haven't been able to.
Soil temp soil depth soil type...

Erm hope that helps...

soil temps id try and keep them with a range of 80 - 90 at different depths...

id also dig up the entire enclosure there very good at hiding eggs...
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Old 07-18-12, 04:05 PM   #14
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by varanus_mad View Post
Soil temp soil depth soil type...

Erm hope that helps...

soil temps id try and keep them with a range of 80 - 90 at different depths...

id also dig up the entire enclosure there very good at hiding eggs...
What about soil temps and soil depth? I need to change them?

I know I need more substrate and am moving her into a larger enclosure in the next week or two. She'll have 2 feet of substrate.

I already went through and did my best to find eggs. I didn't recover any.
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Old 07-22-12, 10:00 PM   #15
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Re: Sav Eating Her Own Eggs?

I think the cool have easily been laid there. Your basking temps are high enough they she should compeletly digest a lightly shelled egg. The water may be her comfort zone. Looks like she is dedicating there to. She needs more soil depth as you know and possiably more humidity judging by dedicating in the water. Is the top air tight? Ambient air temp needs to be around 80. Soil temp will hold near that and increase temps near basking spot. Variation will let her choose. May need mess with your soil also. Either more sand or dirt in some areas so she can find her perfect spot. Good luck.
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