GottaLuvHerps
New member
Ok, I have an odd issue that I am not sure how to deal with.
I have a 3-4 year old female dragon (Zeke) who has laid perfectly good eggs for me last year for her first time breeding (2 clutches in July and August), got beautiful babies, and everything was fine. So we put her back with the same male this December (Ramses), and have had nothing but issues with the eggs. I do not force my dragons to brumate, and she chose not to go down this winter (as usual). The male did a semi-brumation on his own.
She is laying about every 50-60 days (not the usual 20-30), and is dropping clutches of about 25-29 (bigger than her 17-21 last year). So far I have had 3 clutches this year (January, March and May). And every time, EVERY egg in the clutch goes bad within 2 weeks. This time around, she laid 28 for us on May 28th, and over half of them were deflated when she laid them, and the others are not looking good (deflating, molding, turning yellow, etc). I keep the eggs until I am 110% positive they are bad, but I have a feeling this is another clutch down the drain. And that is no fun because her babies are BEAUTIFUL!
I have since put her back with the male to see if it is a fertilization issue. I have a theory that maybe she is holding the eggs too long? She doesn't ever dig to show she wants to lay - I usually catch it because she drops 1 or 2 in the cage (or in this last case, in the bath), put her in the laybox, and it takes her another 2-3 days to lay the rest. She eats like a pig, is very healthy, and has no issues outside of this one.
My incubator is a self-made converted freezer, temps are 82-84 (depending on the time of day), vermiculite bedding moistened and squeezed, shoebox tubs with lids, moisture level not above the top of the vermiculite, aired out once a week or so (depends on how often I check her eggs)...I have other eggs in the same incubator, same setup, and have no issues at all with those. This is the same incubator I used last year and hatched out 5 perfect clutches between 2 dragons, including her eggs.
Any ideas on what could be going on? Anyone else had this problem? Is she just past her prime? I have no issues retiring her if I have to, as she is a pet first. I do have 3 other pairs this year giving me babies, but since she was my first dragon, it would be nice to have something to carry on her legacy down the road (same feelings towards the male, as he was my husband's first dragon).
Thanks for your time!
I have a 3-4 year old female dragon (Zeke) who has laid perfectly good eggs for me last year for her first time breeding (2 clutches in July and August), got beautiful babies, and everything was fine. So we put her back with the same male this December (Ramses), and have had nothing but issues with the eggs. I do not force my dragons to brumate, and she chose not to go down this winter (as usual). The male did a semi-brumation on his own.
She is laying about every 50-60 days (not the usual 20-30), and is dropping clutches of about 25-29 (bigger than her 17-21 last year). So far I have had 3 clutches this year (January, March and May). And every time, EVERY egg in the clutch goes bad within 2 weeks. This time around, she laid 28 for us on May 28th, and over half of them were deflated when she laid them, and the others are not looking good (deflating, molding, turning yellow, etc). I keep the eggs until I am 110% positive they are bad, but I have a feeling this is another clutch down the drain. And that is no fun because her babies are BEAUTIFUL!
I have since put her back with the male to see if it is a fertilization issue. I have a theory that maybe she is holding the eggs too long? She doesn't ever dig to show she wants to lay - I usually catch it because she drops 1 or 2 in the cage (or in this last case, in the bath), put her in the laybox, and it takes her another 2-3 days to lay the rest. She eats like a pig, is very healthy, and has no issues outside of this one.
My incubator is a self-made converted freezer, temps are 82-84 (depending on the time of day), vermiculite bedding moistened and squeezed, shoebox tubs with lids, moisture level not above the top of the vermiculite, aired out once a week or so (depends on how often I check her eggs)...I have other eggs in the same incubator, same setup, and have no issues at all with those. This is the same incubator I used last year and hatched out 5 perfect clutches between 2 dragons, including her eggs.
Any ideas on what could be going on? Anyone else had this problem? Is she just past her prime? I have no issues retiring her if I have to, as she is a pet first. I do have 3 other pairs this year giving me babies, but since she was my first dragon, it would be nice to have something to carry on her legacy down the road (same feelings towards the male, as he was my husband's first dragon).
Thanks for your time!
