Gravid and Egg Laying
Female bearded dragons can lay eggs without mating, this is normal, there are several important facts to know about a gravid dragon and egg laying.
Signs your dragon is gravid:
Weight gain. Around two weeks after mating you may notice weight gain in your dragon. You will also start to notice her belly will be wider and more spread out. When there has not been a male dragon, it may be more difficult to tell if the weight gain is related to carrying eggs.
Increased appetite, if you believe your dragon is pregnant it is important to increase calcium intake. If the eggs do not have enough calcium to develop properly, they will start to take the calcium from the mother and will leave her at risk for calcium deficiency.
Swelling of the abdomen, do not poke or squish her belly.
Changes in mood, during this time she may not want to be handled, she may also seem irritable, nervous, and may even back away from hands or being petted.
Restlessness, as she is nearing the end of carrying, you will notice more pacing and digging. She is trying to find the “best” place to lay her eggs. be sure to have a dig box, or loose substrate.
DIGGING, when she is getting close to laying her eggs you will notice an increase in digging. Digging will often happen on the warmer end. If there is no dig box she may still “dig” when it comes time to lay they eggs, they may not be all in one spot if there is no dig box/loose substrate.
Decrease in appetite, Around the same time as the increased digging, she will stop eating or she will eat a lot less.
Egg binding can happen when a dragon is unable or unwilling to lay her eggs, this is becoming egg bound and it is common. Often you will see egg binding in dragons who are too small to comfortably lay her eggs. Other causes include low temperature, poor nutrition and poor UVB levels.
Signs to look for include failed attempts at laying a full clutch, stress, anxiety, swollen belly, collapsed cloaca.
Breaded dragons carry their eggs for roughly two months. Eggs that are infertile will be small, odd shaped, yellowish,or collapsed, it is important to remove the eggs from the vivarium, place them in a zip lock back and freeze until it is garbage day.
Fertile eggs should be removed from the vivarium right away, if it was unintentional breeding place the eggs in a zip lock bag and freeze until garbage day as well. If the breeding was intentional it is important to remove them from the vivarium right away, you do not want to shift them or move them, they should be placed in an incubator the same way they were laid.
I do not recommend breeding unless you have done your research, know your bearded dragons genetic line and are educated in the process from start to finish.
