Female laying without Male Contact...

[yager_ps]

I bought Aussie 2 years ago... I was told he was a male, vet told me he was a male, and the local reptile guy told me he was a male.

Welll...
He wasn't!

Today "he" layed 35 unfertilized eggs!! He, or rather she is housed with one other female (has layed before)

Why has "he" or rather she, layed without any male physical contact. The only thing I can guess is Aussie can see a male across the room, and this has possibly triggered a breeding/laying response

Does anyone ever had this happen?

Imagine your buddy (Aussie) who you thought was a male turned out to be a female after 2 years of having him... I'm still not over the shock!!!!

[ICULIZARD]

We had this happen with one of our females a couple of years ago. The female had never been bred and laid 32 eggs....it took her a while to recover from that as she was still quite young and we had to get her shots of calcium after the fact to get her healthy again. (also one of the eggs had ruptured before it was laid and we needed shots of oxytocin to help things along)

She went on to grow properly and when she was bred (at 19 months old) she never had this problem reoccur. Is she acting ok? Feed her lots and extra calcium for a couple of weeks.

ICULIZARD

[Ryan Pye]

What type of reptile is "aussie"?

[DragnDrop]

Some females can lay infertile eggs once mature, no mating needed to stimulate ovulation. It's not at all unheard of in lizards.

Originally posted by Ryan Pye
What type of reptile is "aussie"?

It's probably safe to assume it's a bearded dragon since it's in the dragon forum.

[yager_ps]

When I bought her, she was VERY overweight. It has taken a long time to get the weight off of her. She seems very healthy though. I wouldn't have even guessed it was her (I originally thought it was my other female in the same tank) except that I actually saw her laying. She is a very large dragon, 18" tip to tail with a large head. This is why I thought she was a male. She was too fat to see any bumps.

I will make sure she get lots to eat and lots of calcium, thanks for everyones help

[ATBlover]

it could be an australian water dragon.....suits the name and it is a dragon:P

[thunder]

except that this is the "pogona vitticeps" forum

[yager_ps]

okay... I guess I should have been more specific. Yes its a bearded dragon we are talking about.