Baby Boom - Issue #4

How Eggciting!

This post is a little photo tribute to Lolly's first epic laying of eggs.  That's right.  At some time between 4pm and 5.30pm this Saturday just gone, Lolly successfully laid what we had been thinking for some time was her first clutch of eggs.

First off are a couple of photos of the 'dedicated' laying box I set up for her.  You can see that it is a large, deep tote tray filled about a quarter of the way up with kids play sand.  There is a hole in the lid that I glued fly screen to for ventilation and the lid itself is propped open slightly with a desk lamp with a spotlight glob in it for basking and heat.

I could tell that she has been close to laying for a week or so as she had been very restless and furiously digging at every opportunity.  I had placed her in this container a few times and she had spent her time digging constantly.  You may also notice an upturned shoe box with one end cut off.  This was to provide her with a place, away from the light and heat to look to create a 'nest'.  Wouldn't you know it, she did exactly that!

With the lid off (right), you can see the stylish shoe box.  This photo was taken after I had plucked Lolly out.  I had been vacuuming and washing the floors for about an hour after putting her in.  I had noticed that at one point, she had completely sealed herself into the box, closing off the open end of it with sand.  At this point, I started to get a little excited.

After what I think was about an hour and a half, she emerged from her efforts with sand all over her nose and from a distance a little different.  When I went over I was very pleasantly surprised to see that she looked an awful lot thinner around the middle.  When I picked her up, she was a great deal lighter and running my fingers accross her belly, I could no longer fell the tell tale marble like indicators that she was carrying eggs.  By that stage I was pretty excited.  I rang my girls who were out on a shopping expedition and JT answered the phone as her Mum was driving.  Much excitement and squealing followed.

As you can see from the next photo, after removing the box, the evidence of any work done by Lolly was completely non existent.  She had done an excellent job of covering her tracks.  You can see how hard it would be to find any trace of a nest in the wild.  Notice also how the sand on top of the nest is a little darker.  Dragons seek out slightly moist areas to lay their eggs.  The depth of their nest helps with maintaining a constant temperature for incubation.  As I mentioned previously, during the incubation period, the eggs will also absorb moisture directly from their surroundings.  The play sand used in my laying box comes out of the packet a little moist and maintained the moisture underneath the surface.  So Lolly was able to find suitable enough conditions for her to lay.

Next photo is of some of the eggs in the clutch as I uncovered them.  I had to hunt around for quite a while to find all of them.  I was painstakingly careful as I am sure you can understand.  The first one I lifted out with a teaspoon.  The rest I boldly did with my bare hands.  I have subsiquently read of people using rubber gloved hands, but, I think I would stick with my ungloved hands again should there be a next time.

Can you believe that Lolly, the little superstar laid a total of 26 eggs!  You read correctly, 26!  I could not believe what was happening each time I uncovered another cluster of eggs.  By the time I had half a dozen or so out, the girls had all arrived home.  JT and her sister were down on the floor with me wide eyed and every bit as enthusiastic as I was with every pearly white gem we uncovered.  As you will see below, we managed to get what look to be 25 potentially viable eggs.  I uncovered 1 egg that was squashed.  I was extremely careful uncovering the eggs so I am guessing that Lolly may have squashed it.  However, given the care that she took with her nest, it could just as easily have been me.

This photo is of the 25 viable eggs in the two plastic containers.  They are nestled in a mix of vermiculite and water in a ratio of 1:1 by weight.  That means, for every gram of substrate I put in a ml of water.  This mix, once sealed in the container will maintain a good consistency of humidity and moisture for the eggs to incubate.

Don't the little gems look amazing!  They are about the size of those small, solid chocolate Easter eggs that we all eat to many of each year.  I am still flabbergasted as to how Lolly fit all of them inside her.  Let alone for so long.  One of the indicators that Beardies are getting close to term is a loss of appetite.  As you can imagine, carrying such a load internally, does not leave much room for anything else.  Their organs get pushed up towards the front of their bodies and their stomachs simply don't have room to hold anything like the volume of food that they would normally.  A good indicator for next time is that I noted Lolly went off her food in the last week before she laid her eggs.  She is normally so voracious when it comes to food, I had some serious suspicions that the time was nearing.

The last photo is of where the eggs sit today and where they will continue to be for the next 40-60 days, in our incubator.  You can see, it has a nice digital controller on the top with readings on temperature and humidity collected from sensors inside.  Controls on the top to alter temperature, turn on the fan to improve airflow and turn on the internal light for when we want to take a better look.  The container itself is made of solid polystyrene foam.

I have placed the two containers of eggs, one under each window so we can keep an eye on them.  You might be able to make them out if you look closely.  I took this photo just before I took the containers out to start filling them with eggs!

So, now we wait.  Please excuse the long post, but, I am sure you can appreciate all that I wanted to pack in.  More to come soon!

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.

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.

Baby Boom - Issue #1

On Saturday I decided that Booster was well enough to return to the Dragon's Den. His wounds appeared to be as good as they were going to get and his limp appeared to be all but gone. Besides, I was sick of his moping.

Lolly seemed to accept him back well enough and he seemed happier straight away. So much so that on Sunday afternoon I witnessed them in the act as it were. That's right, they were mating. From what I have read, they displayed classic form.

So, where to from here? I have been burying my nose in whatever online material I can find. A. Lot of it seems pretty consistent. I. Also paid a visit to Peter at Reptiles Inc. this afternoon and he gave me some solid advice. Some of it in contraSt to what I had already read, but, for the most part, it reinforced the direction that I was heading in.

The first thing I have to do is provide the mother to be with somewhere to lay any eggs that she might be carrying. So tomorrow I will be chasing down a kitty litter tray and some sand pit sand.

For now, enjoy the picture of the happy couple who are hopefully currently expecting. More information in the experience and breeding Beared Dragons in general to follow.