#11011

 HELP!! new eggs

I had purchased a male for my feardie and returned him two days later because he was stressing my female out too much. I came home from work tonight and there are over twenty eggs in my beardies cage. i was not expecting this at all and I have no idea what to do. I know I have to incubate them, I guess she laid them within the last couple of hours, but i will have to wait until tomorrow to get an incubator, will it be too late? how do I know which side is up? I don’t know what to do or how to set up an incubator. Please help!!!!

 #11024

 HELP!! new eggs

You can probably get an incubator at some kind of feed store or something along the lines of that. Basically you can use the styrofoam incubators for chickens called Harbovators. When removing the eggs make sure you do not turn them. You will need to put them into a bin with moistened vertmiculite. Keep the temps in the inucubator in the low 80’s. Approximately 82-84. Some things you should note is: 1. your eggs may possibly be infertile. 2. Make sure you can find good homes for all your babies, and be aware that you will need to buy thousands of small crickets to feed them before you decide to incubate the eggs. PE

 #11027

 HELP!! new eggs

Is it too late if it has been overnight without incubation in room temperature. Also the eggs aren’t a solid consistancy, some parts of the outer shell are thicker than others, they look like they have real transparent blothches on them. Is that normal? I broke open one of the eggs that looked damaged and there was a bloody group of veins in it, does that me they are fertile? I bought the incubator and have it all set up, but I have no idea what I am doing. Thanks for your help/ -Melissa

 #11031

 HELP!! new eggs

Inconsistencies in shell texture means mom is mineral-deficient and didn’t have enough calcium, copper, zinc and other goodies to make good shells. Yes, it does sound like the eggs are fertile but the odds of them hatching out normal, healthy youngsters with shells like that are not good. Quite likely the hatchlings will be born with metabolic bone disease. Were it me, I’d freeze the eggs so that the embryos don’t develop. I would also get some Miner-all and give a tiny pinch to the mother daily for at least 6 months to help her right the mineral imbalance.

 #11047

 HELP!! new eggs

What does freezing the eggs do? Do the eggs that are consistant have a chance?

 #11056

 HELP!! new eggs

I agree with Eyespy. I would freeze them to, especially if their were eggs that didn’t have much consistancy. You can end up risking early death, still borns, deformities, stunted growth, or sick dragons. PE

 #11064

 HELP!! new eggs

Why freeze them, I don’t get it, why not just trash them? Also, is there something I can do now to insure that future eggs will be healthy?

 #11080

 HELP!! new eggs

If you just trash them, the eggs can sometimes hatch out. Freezing stops the embryos from developing so they don’t hatch in a landfill. Feeding the mother extra portions of calcium-rich greens, veggies, dusting her food daily with calcium and mineral supplements and giving well-gutloaded insects for 2 to 3 months before allowing her access to a male will definitely prevent this sort of problem.

 #11126

 HELP!! new eggs

Now that she has been exposed to a male, is she going to continue to have eggs, even though he is not around anymore? She will not touch crickets and she will only eat worms periodically. All she really eats is crickets and greens. Is there a pellet or something I can force feed her? Can she have fertile eggs still even now that the male has been removed and if so is there a point where she will stop prosucing fertile eggs and eggs in general? Sorry, I have so many questions and I love that there is a place to ask someone that actually knows what they are talking about. Also, if she is going to continue having fertile eggs, I would love to have healthy ones so I can experience the whole process, is there a way to get ready in time for the next clutch? Thanks again.

 #11149

 HELP!! new eggs

There’s no way to predict whether she will clutch again, unfortunately. You basically just have to wait and see. She can continue to lay fertile eggs for a couple of years and can lay infertile eggs for the rest of her fertile years. I knew one female dragon that eventually had to be spayed at age 18 because she was beginning to get so weak from laying all those eggs. She lived to be 21. The only sure way to get ready for the next clutch is to get electrolyte and vitamin D3 injections or heavy supplementation in her diet for the mom and then wait 6 months before incubating. Such mineral depletion as she showed in her eggs takes at least 6 months to correct fully. What happens is that the female’s body robs minerals such as calcum from her bones in order to put shells on her eggs. The fact that she didn’t put good shells on means that not even her bones had a good enough calcium reserve. It takes 6 months from the time a new bone cell is formed until it is fully calcified, so even with treatment it will be at least 6 months until her body has sufficient calcium reserves. Ideally mom should be seen by a vet for bloodwork to find out if her blood levels are off and get injections. Supplements work much more slowly and it can take a long time before healthy new bone cells are born.

 #11181

 HELP!! new eggs

Thank you so much, I am going to schedule a vet appointment this week.-Melissa

 #12300

 HELP!! new eggs

I think perhaps you may be mistaken on your 21 year old bearded dragon. That is an outragously exagerated lifespan and I’m sure any credible and experienced Dr./Researcher would gladly debate that with you. Also, it would take a brave veterinarian to administer anesthesia to an 18 year old beardie just to perform an ovariohisterectomy(spay). Anyway, considering your limited knowledge of beardies, I also, would reccomend ditching incubating the eggs. Find yourself a good book (The Bearded Dragon Manual), read it and get your beardie healthy and happy first. Find out what exactly what you need to breed (not by way of these forums), how much it will cost and then go from there. Breeding is not for everyone, believe me. If you just want 2 beardies, get another female.