When will she STOP laying??

My hypo orange female (Audrey) has laid four clutches so far, and I believe she will be laying more soon!! Her first clutch was laid on March 2, 2012 with 23 fertile eggs. The second was laid on March 15, 2012 with 27 fertile eggs. The third was laid on March 31, 2012 with 27 fertile and 2 infertile eggs. The fourth clutch was laid on April 18, 2012 with 24 fertile and 5 infertile eggs. So far we have 101 fertile eggs!! It seems as though she is going to lay another because she is putting on weight rather quickly, like she has with previous clutches. After every clutch she lays, she seems to be healthy and very active (actually the most active of all of our beardies!!) How many more clutches should I expect?? We have bred her with an orange male through one (obviously) successful mating. Can this have a negative effect on her by laying too many clutches?? Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

Audrey and Marysa

My most enthusiastic breeders stop laying after 5 clutches. If she's doing well there's not much to do for her other than continue to support her.

Laying eggs can have a negative affect on a female, there are a lot of risks involved when you breed. Make sure she has a lot of calcium and protein and very little stress and just keep on helping her.

Be prepared to take her to a vet if she starts to struggle with her condition.

One of my customers claims her female laid 13 clutches last year.

Liz is on her 5th as well. She is ussualy a 2 clutch girl so this is stressfull for me but she is doing great. One thing that has happened is a loss of an indavidual scale hear and thier. I cunsulted a vet right away of caorse tottaly worried, but i was told that some females will put all thier bodys nutrients into the eggs. Not all will have this problem! Liz eats very well with all her vitamins calcium and protiens some are just more touchy!! I have also heard from people like kevin DDEN and steven BLOODBANK that they have had dragons lay 7-8 clutches. So keep up the good work and she will stop when she is ready Congrats on all the coming babys!!

Thanks for the advice!! I will continue to feed her well, with plenty of calcium and vitamins!! Her first clutch should be hatching within the week, I will post some pics soon!!

Holy moly!! 13 clutches!?!

Wow, my dragon had her first clutch around 75 days ago and I am happy to say they are all hatched and seem healthy as can be. I never knew until reading your post that they could lay more so quickly without breeding again so I just checked out my female and she feels like she is full of eggs again. I wanted to try it once and let my kids experience the whole process but wasn't planning on doing it again this quickly but it looks like I may not have a choice. Thanks for the heads up, I would have never thought they could do this again so quickly.

Originally Posted by juice it

Wow, my dragon had her first clutch around 75 days ago and I am happy to say they are all hatched and seem healthy as can be. I never knew until reading your post that they could lay more so quickly without breeding again so I just checked out my female and she feels like she is full of eggs again. I wanted to try it once and let my kids experience the whole process but wasn't planning on doing it again this quickly but it looks like I may not have a choice. Thanks for the heads up, I would have never thought they could do this again so quickly.

Female dragons can hold sperm for up to six months, sometimes more You never know how many they can lay! So always be good at keeping them fed with a good diet and plenty of calcium. Good luck to your next clutch!!

Are multiple clutches normal? Like, do most beardies do that, or just a few here and there? I'm about to start breeding for the first time, and this seems like a pretty relevant topic to me, as far as trying to be prepared for anything -_- I'm not exactly sure how I would feel about getting anymore than 3 or 4 clutches within such a short amount of time!

Also, as long as I'm on the subject:
How often do most breeders pair up their dragons? Once or twice a year? Three times?

I can't imagine its more than twice if they lay multiple clutches like that!
Also, what are the brumation/breeding season rotations like if more than once per year?

Hopefully I can get all these questions answered. lol
Thanks, everyone.

Most dragpns that are well cared for , lots of food, water and calcium, will never have a problem. One of my females laid 9 clutches a few years ago, 31-39 eggs each clutch back to back, right around 300 eggs, and never missed a beat . The majority of my females have laid 4-6 clutches average, with 26-30 being the average clutch size.

Originally Posted by enharmonic

Are multiple clutches normal? Like, do most beardies do that, or just a few here and there? I'm about to start breeding for the first time, and this seems like a pretty relevant topic to me, as far as trying to be prepared for anything -_- I'm not exactly sure how I would feel about getting anymore than 3 or 4 clutches within such a short amount of time!

Also, as long as I'm on the subject:
How often do most breeders pair up their dragons? Once or twice a year? Three times?

I can't imagine its more than twice if they lay multiple clutches like that!
Also, what are the brumation/breeding season rotations like if more than once per year?

Hopefully I can get all these questions answered. lol
Thanks, everyone.

If you're not prepared for that many, you may want to hold-off on breeding her. I was prepared last year (my first year breeding dragons), but still wasn't expecting 5 clutches from a first-timer! Her biggest was 40 eggs, while the other 4 clutches averaged 29 each. I had some wholesale deals worked out in advance, and it still pushed me to my limits with both my food supply (THOUGHT I had a big enough Dubia colony) and my own time availability.

I'm not trying to talk anyone out of enjoying this hobby. I had LOTS of fun--and I'm having even more fun this year!--but just want to make sure you have good info to be prepared. Good luck!!