Baby Boom - Issue #2

It's been just over a week since I witnessed the first mating attempts by our Dragons.  I'm still really unsure at to whether or not Lolly is "pregnant".  When a reptile is carrying eggs, she is said to be gravid.  

"the term gravid is used to describe the condition of an animal (most commonly fish or reptiles) when carrying eggs internally." 

From what I understand from reading and speaking to people, Beardies will remain gravid for around 40 days.  At which time, the female will lay up to around 30 eggs.  These can be incubated for about the same time and hopefully hatch successfully.  By the time the eggs are ready to hatch, the female should be ready to lay her second clutch for the season.  I believe that they can lay up to 3 clutches in a single season, from a single mating.  So potentially, Lolly is going to be a busy girl!

I have seen some eggs at the reptile store already this season, so I think Lolly may have missed the boat at having 3 clutches.  There is also debate in what I have read as to the benefits of breeding females in their first year of life.  When Peter from Reptiles Inc came for JT's birthday party, he suggested that Lolly was big enough and would look to mate this season.  Which, is the counter to the age argument.  Many seem to suggest that it is the size of the female that determines whether or not she is ready to breed.  Either way, with only having had the one enclosure, we haven't had a lot of say in the matter :-).

I weighed Lolly this week, she is a whopping 334 grams!  When she came to us, she was no more than 10 grams.  Two months ago, she was 180 grams.  So she has nearly doubled her weight in that time.  I am going to weigh her more regularly in the coming weeks, just so I can try and ascertain if she is indeed gravid.

The photo I have included is of Lolly being weighed.  She didn't seem to mind too much, but, put on a great display at the time.  You can see what they are called Bearded Dragons!  She has pushed out her frill and turned it jet black in beautiful contrast to her yellow patterned skin.  You can also understand why they get called the frilly lizard when you see a photo like that.