These females are driving me crazy!

[laurarfl]

This has just been a weird year for herps.

I have my two fertile eggs from my first ever clutch and they seem to be going OK. My other female is due to lay any day now and I 'm kinda worried about her. She is HUGE and starting to lose a bit of mass in her tail and back legs from building eggs, I'm sure. She's eating OK, but not as well as I would like. She'll eat a quail chick, small rat or large mouse, but has refused food for the past couple of days (no to turkey, rodents, egg...nothing stirs her). She looks very uncomfortable and her ribs seem to have spread to accommodate the eggs. She has a huge mound built and sleeps in there or in her hide box. She used to charge if your hand came near the glass, but now she's more lethargic.

I'd post a pic but my daughter has the camera out tonight. I didn't want to wait to ask though. Does this sound normal for a very gravid tegu?

 

[VARNYARD]

Laura, she is acting 110% normal. Females will often times not eat 1-5 days before laying. I would say she is getting very close, did the eggs drop down yet?

 

[laurarfl]

Ummm....not sure, I'm really new at this. Beardies are so easy in comparison! I promise to post pics in a couple of hours. I told a friend of mine last night that she was either doing really well or half dead. She laughed and said, "Aren't you supposed to know a tad more about these critters than that?" Well, hey, when it's the first time breeding, everything makes you feel like a noob again.

This female is Kreacher, the one I won in your contest three years ago! She is from Dark Lady x Zeus. She is extremely special to me and super gorgeous. If something happened to this tegu it would be a crushing blow to me.

 

[VARNYARD]

I would not get too worried just yet. And what I meant by dropping down is, when they start out the whole belly looks full, but as they get close the eggs drop down and back, much like a human baby does before birth.

 

[laurarfl]

OK, here are the pics. I couldn't get her to get up and walk. I nudged her and she would lift and then just plop back down. She's super tame and just lets us do whatever we want for the most part. She doesn't react much to us prodding her.

I would say there is some dropping. Yesterday she looked like she had more "spread" when she was laying down, but now she's holding herself up a bit. The cage looks bare, but she's pushed the substrate over to the other end of the cage for her mound.

 

[VARNYARD]

I would say she looks close, the eggs did move like I asked. She should lay in a day or two, but it might be a week. I too have females that are easy going during this period, rare, but I do have a few that have no reaction to human contact.

 

[laurarfl]

She was a bit more fiesty at the beginning of this week, but now she just seems uncomfortable. Having had two kids myself, I remember that feeling, lol!

She is the epitomy of dog tame tegu. When I take her on the back porch, she'll come and lay her head on us or come up next to us to hang out. If we're in the garage she'll lay her head on the edge of the door and watch us. We'll open the door to rub her back (her favorite). I was petting her today and hoping she'll get back to normal soon. She's the best tegu in temperament and she has a bright orange belly with some orange spots up her sides and a little on her back!!!

You did a good job on this one. Were her parents as laid back?

 

[VARNYARD]

They were, both were dog tame too.

 

[laurarfl]

Thanks again for the help. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[VARNYARD]

Thanks again for the help. I'll let you know what happens.

No problem, glad to help.

 

[laurarfl]

Looks like we've got 49 more eggs! I'll check them more thoroughly in the next few days, but I'd say at least 30-35 look fertile based on my experience with the last clutch.

 

[DaveDragon]

Congrats!!! Post some pics! And the waiting begins.

 

[VARNYARD]

Looks like we've got 49 more eggs! I'll check them more thoroughly in the next few days, but I'd say at least 30-35 look fertile based on my experience with the last clutch.

Awesome Laura :cheers

 

[lilgonz]

Congrats, good luck with this clutch.

 

[txrepgirl]

Awww. I'm so proud of her . Congrats on your new clutch and good luck with this one and the other eggs you have from your other female . I can't wait to see the hatchlings. I'm so excited for you.

 

[laurarfl]

We also ended up making our own cooler incubator ala Dave Dragon. Works great! I had all the supplies on hand so it was zero investment. The only change I made was to use heat cable instead of lights. I just threaded everything through the drain hole and didn't even need to drill.

 

[LizardKing75]

How did your eggs do for you?

 

[laurarfl]

update...

It's been rather up and down. Definitely a learning experience this first year of breeding.

The first clutch of eggs gave me three fertiles, then they appeared to have died off. I kept the last two to see what would happen. One it seems it definitely dead, but the other I'm not sure about. The medium dried out a bit and the egg collapsed. I really thought it was dead, so I half heartedly gave the medium some moisture. The egg plumped back up and has visible blood vessels. It also seems to be getting darker inside when I candle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed (and toes) since it's the only egg from that female. I'd like to see what the baby looks like because the mom has a nice white contrast. Oh, the 60 day mark is June 28th, but they have had some cool days (and a cool week while I was out of town).

My other clutch has had some duds as well. I had a high percentage of fertiles that died early...not sure why. I candled the eggs today and saw some movement. They should be hatching at the end of July. I'm really looking forward to these because the mom is a Varnyard B/W with a great disposition, nice build, and bright orange belly.

One thing that I am not enjoying about tegu breeding is the change in disposition of my females. My beautiful and sweet Kreacher will now attack any of my other tegus and our feet no matter how close or far we are from her cage. I used to let them all hang out on the screen porch, but she attacked my other female. And the male now wants to mate with the females constantly and aggravates them.

 

[laurarfl]

My first ever tegu hatchling hatched today, but it was premature and stillborn. So sad. He managed to make it past his shoulders out of the egg, but his skin was pink and he was so small. Poor little guy.

I hope the others that are due in 2 weeks are so fare much better.

 

[reptastic]

OH MAN that sucks, hopefully the others hatch for you on time.