# Female bearded dragon digging frantically



## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

Hello all,

My bearded dragon is about 2.5 years old. She was kept wood chips for the first couple of years of her life however I read that this was bad in case she ate any so replaced this with sand 6-8 months ago.

She has been fine on this however the last few days she has been frantically digging around kicking sand up into her food/water bowl and all over the place.

I'm starting to get a little worried about her as a little digging around is normal but this seems excessive. After a quick search a couple of people has suggested she may be searching for somewhere to lay some infertile eggs.

Do I need to do anything to help this process??

And if she does lay any, what should I do with them?

Thanks
Sam


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

It sounds as if she wants to lay eggs. You could put a lay box in there to help her, although she may not need it, but better do do that in case I think.
If she's definitely not mated then they'll be infertile and you just throw them out. There's no danger of them accidentally incubating with rubbish and hatching out because she needs to mate for them to be fertile.
You could add more calcium to her feeds, she'll need it since if she doesn't have enough the eggs will use calcium from her, so best to up her calcium intake. Don't overuse multivitamins with added calcium, just use pure calcium. 
You made a good choice taking her off the woodchip, when we got our female she'd only ever been kept on that, we took her off it straight away, put her on desert mix which is sand and soil, gave her a bath and she went to the toilet straight away, passing out a big piece of woodchip! 
Yours will do fine on sand, although make sure it's not calci sand you're using. And make sure her diet and supplements are good, otherwise she may end up seeking out calcium in her substrate, which is when you'll run into trouble. They don't usually make a point of eating it otherwise.


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

As above, good advice. Make you you place the lay box somewhere near the middle of the viv where it is neither too hot nor too cold.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Debbie1962 said:


> As above, good advice. Make you you place the lay box somewhere near the middle of the viv where it is neither too hot nor too cold.


Sorry to jump all over this thread but may I ask - I have our lay box in the warm end (it's a large litter tray) because that's where she was digging, I have covered part of it with a piece of elevated bark to shade some of it. Given that part of it is shaded, would you still advise putting it in the middle?


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

Well some people do say the warm end but I have always put mine in the middle. The warm end tends to dry the substrate in the box more. As for the cool end I cant see any lizard really wanting to lay eggs where its cool. But dont change because of what I said if it works for you then fine.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Thanks  yeah that's the only issue I'm having, it drying out quickly. I mist it with water and mix it up to keep it damp enough. But she's only bothered digging in the warm end, so I'm assuming she will lay there. She never digs in the cool end, but if she suddenly decides to lay in the middle then there's a load of substrate piled up in that area to make it easier for her to get into her lay box so will be enough to dig in.


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

I always found with me beardies that they generally laid where they wanted, they are awkward little so and so's. My Ackies, Uros and Geckos always laid their eggs in the boxes provided, bit more intelligent I guess:lol2:.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

I think beardies are very stubborn and 'just so' little creatures :lol2:
She sticks to digging where it is, so I happy for now. I'll probably find she sticks her fingers up at us and lays somewhere entirely different now.


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

I guess that is part of their charm:whistling2:.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Yep, and probably why I get on so well with them because I'm exactly the same :lol2: in stubbornness, I don't dig holes and lay eggs lol


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

Cheers for the replies!

What should I use for a lay box, what should I fill it with and how big should it be? Her viv is 4x2x2ft for reference.

Thanks
Sam


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

I have a 4x2x2 viv too and use a large deep litter tray. It takes up quite a bit of room in her warm end, I'll post a pic of it in a min so you can see how big.
I filled it with sand, soil and vermiculite but there's more play sand in there than anything else. I also dampened it down enough to hold a sturdy burrow. Clump some up to test it out, damp enough to make a sand castle with but you don't want it sopping wet.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Ok so some doughnut just turned off her lights a half hour early so I can't get a proper pic yet, but I took one earlier which shows about half of it


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

It's deeper than it looks because it's buried to the floor, she's about 18" long. You don't have to use one that size, you can use smaller if you like. I've heard some using nothing more than a large ice cream tub and being successful. I just wanted to give her as much space as I could to dig is all.


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

Fantastic. Thanks for the info, I'll pop down to Argos and get some more play sand and try to find something suitable to out it in! Where do you get soil/vermiculite and are there benefits to that over just damp play sand? I guess I can just use play sand out of the bag as it comes damp, whereas I dried it all out before putting the rest in.


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## Spaceisdeep (Mar 19, 2013)

amber83 said:


> I filled it with sand, soil and vermiculite


given the amount of mass hysteria on here about impaction I'm surprised to see vermiculite being recommended for use in a beardies enclosure, it swells considerably when wet and holds the moisture :whistling2:


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

Wow she looks ready to burst amber83:whistling2:.

I use any plastic tubs that are big enough for them to get into and keep the lid on but cut a hole in big enough for them to get into. I generally use damp sand.

As for the vermiculite I dont do hysteria like most here seem to do and I cant see it being a problem unless the lizard is deliberately eating it.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Yes, I don't think it'll be too much longer now!
I'm not recommending vermiculite(as in one has to use it), but it does hold moisture well and can be helpful if you're placing the box in the warm end of the enclosure since it tends to dry out very quickly. She hasn't attempted to eat any, and I don't use it as part of her normal substrate - I use a desert mix of sand and soil for her. There isn't a large percentage of vermiculite used, it's actually mixed into the sandy soil mix I bought and I added some extra to help retain moisture more. Her lay box consists mostly of play sand, much higher percentage of that than anything else. 
I honestly don't know why people get so wrapped up in panic, if your dragon has the proper diet and supplements, there's usually no reason why it would go out of its way to purposely consume substrate anyway. And adults aim is impeccable when hunting food.
As you can tell, I'm not really one for sticking my beardie on Lino or carpet or tiles :whistling2:


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

I have used sand for my lot for around 14 years and never had a problem. Whilst some may ingest a little when feeding most passes through without problems. Obviously we are talking adults and bigger tummies, I do not use substrates for babies.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

SamN said:


> Fantastic. Thanks for the info, I'll pop down to Argos and get some more play sand and try to find something suitable to out it in! Where do you get soil/vermiculite and are there benefits to that over just damp play sand? I guess I can just use play sand out of the bag as it comes damp, whereas I dried it all out before putting the rest in.


You can buy a desert mix (not the normal desert mix substrate, it's sand, soil and vermiculite) from pet or reptile stores or online. You don't have to use soil or vermiculite, play sand will do just fine. The only reason I got the mix was because there wasn't a hope in hell I'd manage to carry a massive bag of sand home by myself and hubby's back is out of action. But we got one in the end to add to it and as I said I added extra vermiculite I already had (also bought from reptile store) to help retain moisture. 
But plenty use just sand and do fine. Just ensure it's moist enough to hold a sturdy burrow. They don't all burrow, some just dig a bit of a hole, lay then kick sand back over (this is what my previous female did), but some do like to burrow and you don't want it collapsing on her.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Debbie1962 said:


> I have used sand for my lot for around 14 years and never had a problem. Whilst some may ingest a little when feeding most passes through without problems. Obviously we are talking adults and bigger tummies, I do not use substrates for babies.


Exactly. With babies, it's a different ball game entirely. I'd not use loose substrate for babies. But adults are fine for the most part and when they're not, it's usually keeper error as in they're lacking calcium and eating substrate to try to make up for it. Small bits ingested will be passed through easily, unlike woodchip for instance.


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

She just laid a dozen eggs!

Now I'm 99% sure they're infertile but do I just remove them and bin them?

Haven't opened the viv door yet but she looks a little protective.

I feel sorry for her as she may think she's going to be a mum, and then hate me haha.

She's still digging around a bit also! As if she has more to come!


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Sorry I forget, is she with a male? If not then they will be infertile.
If she has been with a male and you don't want to incubate them, then you need to freeze them as soon as she's done laying.
Don't worry, she's not going to hate you because they don't have that maternal instinct that other animals have.


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Also, if she's digging still, don't remove them or interfere in any way until she's covered them up. She might have more to come, but possibly not. They can lay anything from a dozen eggs to thirty something eggs. I'd leave her be for now, keep an eye on her but leave her till you know she's finished.


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

Cool thanks. No she's on her own. I had another (suspected female but they were always fighting so re-homed the other a year ago).

So she'll cover them up with sand when she's done?


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## amber83 (Jul 29, 2013)

Ah ok so they'll be infertile then. Yes she'll probably cover them up when done, you just have to find them and bin them. That's fine. Make sure she gets a decent feed after and ensure she's hydrated.


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

Cool. Thanks a lot!


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

So a month later and it looks like she's been making a mess of the viv again. Sand everywhere as it was before she laid eggs.

Any chance she's going to lay more?!


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## Joe'sMum (May 31, 2010)

Yep, ours laid two clutches of infertile eggs, but hopefully she's done now.:2thumb:


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## SamN (Jul 17, 2012)

Just took 26 eggs out of the viv, without sifting through the sand so there may be more. Think there were 20 or so last month!


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