Baby Boom - Issue #3

It's been just over 3 weeks since we first caught Lolly and Booster 'in the act" as it were.  My research indicates that it can be up to around 40 days after mating that the female will lay eggs.  Lolly has been giving out all the signs.  She is digging furiously at different times and spends most of the day trying to climb out of her enclosure.  I can only think that she is either trying to escape the continued amorous advances of Booster, or attempting to find a suitable site to lay her eggs.  I am not sure that the first time we saw them mate was the first time or the successful time so I am not sure exactly when Lolly will look to lay her eggs.

I have set up a laying box in the Den.  Although I am now wondering if it is too shallow, as in addition to this, I have partially filled one of the larger plastic containers from my failed attempt to breed crickets with play sand and placed Lolly in it a couple of times.  The last time I did this, after settling in for a while she proceeded to dig out a large section of the container right down to the bottom.  The sand in this conatiner is much deeper than the one in the Den.  Hence my concern over the depth of the laying box.

Bearded Dragons breed on the basis of quantity over quality.  They choose to lay a lot of eggs and often.  I believe that some species will lay up to 5 clutches a year.  I understand that Pogona Barbata (Eastern Bearded Dragons, which is what Lolly and Booster are) will lay up to 3 clutches in a season.  Interestingly this can be from a single mating, as the female can store the males sperm to fertilize her eggs later in the season.

So why all the digging you ask?  Well, not only do Beardies breed in large quantities (up to around 30 eggs at a time), the female will lay her eggs and walk away, never to see them again.  In order to give them the best chance of successful incubation, she seeks out the most appropriate site she can.  To be appropriate, the site should maintain a stable temperature of aground 29-30 degrees centigrade and have a reasonable level of moisture.  I will see if I can dig up the level of humidity best suited.  I don't have it on hand at the moment.  The reason that the humidity is so important is that reptile eggs absorb moisture to help sustain the embryos growing inside.  I'll explain more about how I will simulate these conditions next time.

On to the photos....

I thought it would be good to share some photos of the mother to be in her gravid state.  If you look carefully at the lower part of Lolly's tummy, to the right of her elbow, you can see that there as some distinct lumps visible.  These are the eggs growing inside her, that she will eventually lay!  How exciting is that?  In the first photo, you can also see Booster poking his head into the picture trying to get involved and see what all the fuss is about.  So judging by these images, we are go for the laying of eggs at some stage at least.  Exciting times ahead.