# bearded dragon egg laying box



## vincent1

hi i am new to breeding bearded dragons i am 100% sure my female is gravid so i have set up the incubator now ready and running at a steady 82. what i need to know is what you guys use as a laying box for her to lay the eggs in ie what size how deep and what do you use in the laying box i have read up it seems to vary from play sand to peat to vermiculite can you guys help out? is it 3 weeks after mating shes lays? also do i leave the laying box in for the second clutch? how long after the first lay will this be i have read up on all of this but every site seems to vary so i thought it would be best to ask the guys who have done this themselves and know cheers


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## heather carpenter

well we use a deep cat litter box (not used by a cat lol) and fillit with sand and put a lid on it with a hole in it that she can go in and out of and just put it in her viv and let her get on with it :2thumb:


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## Widget

I have just gone though my first beardie egg laying experience and found a lot of variation when seeking advice both online and from experienced breeders.

For egg laying I used a plastic storage box which was about 10 inches deep. I used a 50/50 mix of peat and bird sand (both were provided by my local rep store) and added some warm water so that the mixture was moist but not too wet. This mix was about 7/8 inches deep in the box to allow her to dig. I cut to size a piece of cardboard to sit on top of the box as a lid to give her some privacy when it came to laying.

As the box was quite high in the viv I periodically lifted her into it and on most occasions she would climb back out or sometimes have a little dig for an hour or two before getting out for a warm. On the third day of returning her to the box and checking on her after a couple of hours she had laid 22 eggs which then had to be carefully transferred (without turning or changing their laid position) to the incubation tubs which contained vermiculite.

I have the incubator set to 84, I think 82 may be a little low? But then this is my first go too, and I'm only going on advice I have been given.

The laying box is out of the viv now but I am keeping it near in case she produces a second clutch. At the moment, she is empty and looking very skinny compared to last week! I will put the tub back in if she starts to fatten up again and destroy the viv with her digging - it's a sure sign she should be storing more!

It seems to be, on average, around 5 weeks after mating that the female lays.

Hope this helps!
Amy


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## MikeJ

Shoe box sized plastic tub with some nesting block material from reptile shop. Put this into the viv once she has been digging round for 24 hours (tried it once immediately and she didnt use it and laid in the sand..think it got too cold). Cover one end of it with a flat rock. Has worked for us and we have had two lots of hatchlings


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## kerry and chris

we hatched 2 clutches last year. and the mum wasnt shy lol she dug and laid her eggs right infront of us. we watched her but didnt move or make any noise to disturb her. it was quite strange as the farther off the offspring seemed to stand guard. he stood just outside the box all puffed up and manly until she had finished laying lol. 

we used a large container shoe box size as said already and about 9-10" deep so she could bury them quite far down. we filled it with reptile sand but you have to keep it moist so it sort of sticks together.

it took her 4 weeks both times from mating to laying her eggs. the incubator was kept at 28 degrees.

dont forget after she has laid let her eat and drink as much as she likes making sure you use calcium supplement on her food as she uses all her calcium for her eggs!!! and she will need all the energy she can get after laying.

good luck with your first eggs!! the most exciting bit is yet to come. wait until the eggs start to dimple and you see a head poking out its so exciting!!! lol : victory:


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## vincent1

*shes laid!!!! 22 eggs*

i had put the laying box in for her to lay about 1 week ago she kept going in to have a look etc but guess what she laid all her eggs on the bottom of the viv luckly i was at home at the time so i marked the top of each egg as she laid lifted them realy carfully put on vermiculite in the viv all eggs look good so far 22 cant see feel anymore and shes stopped scratching now so going to let her have a soak in some cool water as she loves that and will give her some more live food. could she lay again in a few weeks time? i have heard they can have a second clutch? if so how long after this lay today on average will it be? cheers for any advice


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## Nutterma01

heather carpenter said:


> well we use a deep cat litter box (not used by a cat lol) and fillit with sand and put a lid on it with a hole in it that she can go in and out of and just put it in her viv and let her get on with it :2thumb:


Do you need to add water or anything else to the sand or do you just use sand?


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