# Emergency - Bearded Dragon Laying Eggs!!!!



## ZakT (Aug 31, 2008)

Please - can somebody help me out there!!!!

We have a 2 year old Bearded Dragon. We took her to our local reptile shop on 28th July when we went on holiday and they asked if we had thought about breeding - we hadn't!

Anyway - they put her in with a male for no more than 30 seconds. It was so traumatic (for me!!!) that I told them to take her out.

Tonight - she is laying eggs - 5 so far and counting.........

PLEASE tell me what I should do!

This is my son's lizard - he is excited, I am traumatised!!!! 

Any help would be appreciated.

Jx


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

This is a short piece I wrote a few months back that covers the basics:




> Once mated, a female will usually lay a clutch of eggs after 4 weeks of being gravid. She will usually eat a lot more than usual during this time. Another clutch usually follows around 4 weeks after that. I use a washing up bowl full of damp sand for the females to lay in.
> 
> Eggs need incubating at between 82-86f. Don't turn them at any time - be careful when transferring them to the incubator, as they are quite fragile. The exact temperature isn't important (as long as it's within the range), but it is important that it stays the same - once you've picked a temperature, stick to it. Humidity should be fairly high, but not so high that condensation forms above the line of vermiculite / perlite that you are using for incubation. Getting a line of condensation level with the top of the substrate should give you optimal humidity. Given that your female will probably lay a second clutch before the first one, you may need two incubators. If you buy ready-made ones, they can cost up to £100 each.
> 
> ...


Incubating the eggs is something you should do only if you're certain you can provide for the babies; the number of beardies out there missing body parts is testimony to the number of cases where owners aren't prepared / able to provide what the babies need. If you don't think you can provide what the eggs need, the safest way to dispose of them is to freeze them overnight to ensure they are dead (at this stage, the "baby" is only a few cells in a ball - it has no feelings etc).

Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any specific questions.

Andy


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## Triangulum (Apr 30, 2006)

Thats shocking, the Pet shop had no right to breed her without your permission.

Right, Provide a nesting area, although if shes aready started laying, Then just her get on with it, cover the front of the vivarium, to make it less stressful for her. And once the eggs have been laid, dispose of them.

Thats shocking from the pet shop. I would go in and expect an apology of some sort.


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## ZakT (Aug 31, 2008)

*Laying the eggs*

Can you tell me how long, on average, it takes for a Bearded Dragon to lay her clutch of eggs please.


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## ZakT (Aug 31, 2008)

*Heat Lamp*

Whilst she is laying these eggs - should the heat lamp be left on or off??? We have turned the UV light off.

As you can tell - we are totally clueless here and appreciate any help you can give us.


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

ZakT said:


> Can you tell me how long, on average, it takes for a Bearded Dragon to lay her clutch of eggs please.


"As long as it takes"...

From start to finish it's usually under an hour or so (although to be honest I've never timed it exactly!), although you can get females that take longer to get them all out. She may spend a fair bit of time burying the eggs - they do a really good job of it!



ZakT said:


> Whilst she is laying these eggs - should the heat lamp be left on or off??? We have turned the UV light off.
> 
> As you can tell - we are totally clueless here and appreciate any help you can give us.


If the light was on when she started laying I'd be tempted to leave it on for her - the last thing you want is her getting cold / tired half way through!


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## ZakT (Aug 31, 2008)

*In the morning..............*

What would you advise me to do in the morning? Take them to the reptile shop? They are able to incubate them there.

If we do take them to the reptile shop - should we keep them warm?????


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

ZakT said:


> What would you advise me to do in the morning? Take them to the reptile shop? They are able to incubate them there.
> 
> If we do take them to the reptile shop - should we keep them warm?????


You could do - did you agree to them breeding her? If not you may want to take the eggs to another reptile shop... :whistling2:

It's not too hard to make your own incubator out of a poly box, pulse stat and heat mat if you have them spare / can buy them first thing. That's if you wanted to have a go at hatching them yourself, and have enough spare time / money to raise the babies.

Overnight I'd be tempted to put them in a tuppaware container with some warm, damp sand / perlite / vermiculite in the bottom and put that in a warm airing cupboard / boiler room etc. Anywhere between 80f-90f should be fine for them overnight (so gecko cages / snake cages etc would do as a last resort as long as they're healthy and the eggs are in a secure container etc)


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## NikkiB (Aug 10, 2008)

how are you getting on, any more news?


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