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#1717692
Reptilius
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Gravid Female 
Hi, i purchased a gravid female nigerian at a reptile show yesterday and i was just wondering what the optimum temperature is, due to her being prego. Also, if i should be slightly cutting down on food, or anything of that nature. Once she has layed her eggs, what temp. should i incubate them at?
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04/27/08 08:50am
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#1718036
Skullkeeper
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Message To: Reptilius In reference to Message Id: 1717692
Gravid Female
What makes you think that she is gravid ?
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04/27/08 03:39pm
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#1718715
Reptilius
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Message To: Skullkeeper In reference to Message Id: 1718036
Gravid Female
Her sides are extremely bulged out and the eggs can physically be felt.
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04/28/08 07:10am
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#1718883
Skullkeeper
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Message To: Reptilius In reference to Message Id: 1718715
Gravid Female
I am not a breeder but it seems odd to me that someone would sell a gravid Nigerian especially at a reptile show when they could wait and make alot more money off the babies .Can I ask how much you payed for her ? And why would you buy her if your were not prepared to hatch eggs and care for babies ? The eggs may not be fertile . Did you ask if she had been with a male ? One thing I can tell you is once she lays the eggs she will need to be well feed and a shallow bowl of water should be offered every day for a few days . Do not leave it in the cage all day , just for a few hours . be sure and remove the water at night also .
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04/28/08 12:00pm
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#1718915
El toro
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Message To: Skullkeeper In reference to Message Id: 1718883
Gravid Female
My guess is that she was wild caught already gravid. The seller knows that the chances of successful hatching is just about zero, plus he’s probably not in the business of hatching and raising babies - just moving stock.
Your best bet is to make sure you take care of the female’s needs and leave the eggs as an afterthought. If you already are set up with an incubator, you can read the info on breeding and hatching at Deer Fern Farms: Link.
For the female - make sure she is well fed with plenty of variety in her diet. Be sure to add a calcium supplement to some of her meals since the egg production will be stealing a lot away. Make sure she is under a *good* UVB light at an appropriate distance or gets unfiltered natural sunlight several times a week. The cool area should be around 85F, a good portion of the cage should be at or near 100F. The basking SURFACE temperature should be 120-130F.
Provide a nest box for her right away so she can get used to it. The info on those is at the Deer Fern Farms link provided. After she lays, provide her with water and continue to provide it until she stops drinking. Keep feeding her well and giving calcium. She will be exhausted after the horrible stress of producing these eggs AND importation AND finding a new home. Keep a close eye on her and be quick to get her to the vet if anything seems wrong.
Do not treat for parasites while she’s gravid, but after she lays and is looking normal again, have a fecal check done and deal with parasites then.
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04/28/08 12:51pm
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#1719391
Reptilius
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Message To: El toro In reference to Message Id: 1718915
Gravid Female
Skull keeper, although i appreciate your concern, i did not post a question on here so i could receive a multitude of cynicisms on "my bad decision." If you disagree with it, the ball is on your court, but i didn’t come here to be scolded. El toro, thanks a lot for the feedback. I’m sure it will prove to be quite useful.
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04/28/08 06:50pm
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#1719400
Reptilius
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Message To: Reptilius In reference to Message Id: 1719391
Gravid Female
Furthermore skull keeper, i am quite prepared for incubation, i was simply hoping to obtain more detailed information regarding the process.
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04/28/08 06:53pm
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#1719663
Sahells Mom
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Message To: Reptilius In reference to Message Id: 1719400
Gravid Female
It would really be helpful if you would answer the questions on "PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING". It can speed up the process of getting answers for you! BTW, some female uro’s will lay infertile eggs without being with a male. They are only pregnant for a short time, I wonder how long it takes to get a bunch of animals from "there to here"? I am also sure many WC are just shoved into bags, regardless of gender or size. If you can get something that costs you $0 and you can get $$ for it, it doesn’t really matter if you have 20 or 23. If some die, you still have more than your initial $0 investment.
Anyway, if you would answer the questions, it would sure help. Especially about enclosure size, uro size, temps and such! Thanks!
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04/28/08 10:05pm
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#1720476
Reptilius
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Message To: Sahells Mom In reference to Message Id: 1719663
Gravid Female
40 gallon, i have a nesting box set up, but so far she has displayed little interest in it. I have a mountain made out of rocks, with a cave going under it. 3 sides of the enclosure are covered, so that she wont scratch at the glass. Basking temp in the low to mid 120’s, with cool temp in low 80’s. Feeding her veggies and occaisonal fruit.
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04/29/08 06:49pm
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#1720606
Sahells Mom
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Message To: Reptilius In reference to Message Id: 1720476
 Gravid Female
You are going to have trouble getting your temps right in a 40 gal. Uro’s need like 48X24X24 just for the foot path. Your basking temps need to be up a bit too, like variable from 120 - 140 (ish). Mine are 137.5 and about 135.5. But they can bask anywhere in between. My adult hits the 137 most of the time. It’s good to cover the three sides, I think it makes them a bit more secure, don’t you? The best diet is escarole, endive, bok choy on occasion (mine aren’t crazy about it!), dandelion greens, edible flowers, pesticide free (hibiscus, roses petals, dandelions, etc ~ just make totally sure you know what you are feeding because some flowers are poisonous)! Also squash, zucchini, blueberries, mango, mine like apple etc. Since you just got her, you might try putting a shallow lid of water in for her for a couple of hours in the day time. You never know if they fed them in transit! Don’t leave it over night, and she may just ignore it anyway, but it doesn’t hurt to try! Have you gotten digital thermometers yet? One for each end will really give you a better idea of the temps. Those stick on kind don’t work!! Hmm, no calci sand, no soaking, lots of low hides on both ends, no bugs. After she lays eggs, you also need to give her water. What are you going to do with them after she lays them? I can’t help you much with the egg thing...I have a male geyri and a male ornate.
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04/29/08 08:32pm
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#1720659
Judylynn22
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Message To: Sahells Mom In reference to Message Id: 1720606
 Gravid Female
After breeding about a month later, the eggs will be laid and at that point with captive breeding you need to remove the eggs from the habitat for fear of crushing them. You can make your own incubator for these eggs basically out of a small bathroom trash can, a small plastic trash can often works well for an incubator filled with moist of vermiculite. You can purchase vermiculite usually in hardware stores or such as Home Depot or Ace. You can get vermiculite at any of those places and you need to keep the eggs about 85-90 degrees and within 3 months they should hatch. Most Uromastyx eggs will not hatch. They are very difficult breeders; successful breeding does not mean successful hatching. But if you are lucky, you may get a few hatching eggs.
Hope this helps.. Good Luck!
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04/29/08 09:21pm
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#1720938
Reptilius
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Message To: Judylynn22 In reference to Message Id: 1720659
Gravid Female
Thanks to both of you. The three sides being covering seems to be helping with security tremendously. I actually have and incubator set up for the eggs, once they are laid. I heard, however that the best temperature is right at 93 degrees, so i dunno. Hopefully she starts to warm up to the nest i have set up soon, because (granted i’m no expert) judging from the size of the egg bulges i would guess that she’ll be laying soon, but i suppose time will tell. So far, she seems to show disinterest in the water that i provided, so who knows
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04/30/08 07:45am
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