Infertile eggs

I have a female that will be 1 year old on the 27th, she has never been with a male but has now laid 2 clutches of eggs. The first clutch was in mid March and the second clutch was today. This last clutch has taken alot out of her and I'm worried about this trend that she seems to be starting. I was told that usually the cycle is about 3 weeks from each other but as you can see, it's been about 2 months since the first time. She has seen my male a few times but has never been even close to him, could just seeing him cause her to become gravid?
I have a lay box for her with organic soil with vermiculite and sand, about 5" deep, but she still dug until she wore off all of her nails. Can someone give me advice on a better lay box?
Will she keep doing this? What about sterilization, as I don't plan on ever breeding her?

Any advice would be really appreciated?

Thanks.

Yes, she can be sterlized, but surgery in reptiles can be a bit of a risk unless you have a really great vet. How many eggs are in each clutch? Usually infertile clutches are fairly small. Infertile clutches also tend to be irregular. Some females never lay - and some lay at irratic intervals. Just make sure to up her calcium and protein when you suspect that she is working on another clutch. For my lay-boxes, I use plain-old moist organic dirt. I pile it up about a foot deep on one side of the lay box, and slope it off to the other side. I often start a small hole in the base of the mound for my REALLY lazy females. They seem to appreciate not having to do the work, lol. I hope this helps!

Jamie

Hello Sherry,

Do you think that Whiskers' calcium levels could be low from her first clutch? Sometimes that happens with multiple laying. Maybe you could increase her calcium just a tad to see if that helps out any. Make sure she is well hydrated too.

Tracie

Thank you both very much for your responses.
Her clutches have both been 23 eggs each time. I upped her calcium to liquid 3 times a week, she refused food up until the day after she laid, now I'm also dusting her feeders with plain calcium. Should I keep up with the liquid or wait until I think she is gravid again?
I'll add more soil to her lay box if she starts to act gravid again (I'm starting to learn what behaviors to look for with her - the pacing is non-stop) and slope it on the one side as was said above.
I don't want to risk her health nor do I want to chance a risky surgery, I'll make sure she doesn't even see my male anymore....I don't want her to keep going through this.

Thanks again for the advice, she seems to be doing much better....her appetite is enormous!

Hello Sherry,

Wow, 23 eggs is quite a few for each clutch.
That is great that she is so ravenous right now, I bet she is after all of that. Do you think that she will lay another clutch?
I would keep with the liquid calcium just for a bit longer to see if that perks her up as well as along with the dustings, too. Make sure she gets a bit of extra fat as well. How are her fat stores looking?
The nonstop pacing & frantic behaviour must be very interesting though to watch. Maybe this last clutch will be her last possibly? Good idea though, to keep her laybox out & add more soil.
Do you have a partition between her & the male so they can't see each other then?
I agree, surgery is a little risky when you could just try to get her clutches cut down. Hopefully she wont lay too many more, poor girl!!
Let us know how Whiskers is doing.

Tracie

We had a new female last year that did this. She actually ended up laying about four clutches......never with a male, never even saw our male. We upped her calcium the entire summer and this year she has been fine. I'm sure yours will be also, she just wanted to make sure that you knew she's all grown up now.

Hello,

WOW, your poor girl, she must have been exhausted. Good thing you upped her calcium & I am happy to hear that everything turned out well for her.

Tracie