When Your Bearded Dragon is Gravid
Even if your Bearded Dragon has never been mated with a male, it is still possible for her to become gravid (pregnant). When your bearded dragon is gravid but hasn’t mated, her eggs will be infertile.
Whether your Dragon has been mated or not, the care you give her at this time should be the same, whether the eggs are fertile or not.
Female bearded dragons can start laying their first clutch of eggs when they’re around a year old but can lay infertile eggs as young as 10 months old. Some dragons will never lay eggs at all during their lifetime. There is no way to predict if your dragon will or will not lay eggs in the future.
Generally, a non-mated female will only lay one clutch of infertile eggs. A mated female may lay 4-6 clutches of eggs.
Signs Your Bearded Dragon is Gravid
- Unusual weight gain not attributed to her eating habits
- Her belly is bigger, with lumpy, bumpy bits š
- She may stop eating when it gets closer to the time to lay her eggs
- She may not have her normal bowel movements, meaning some may be smaller than usual, or she may have loose bowels.
- Her urates may have a pinkish tint
If you think your bearded dragon is gravid, increase her calcium supplementation. The extra calcium is needed for egg production. If you do not give her extra calcium, the egg production will pull the calcium it needs from your dragon’s bones, weakening her skeletal system. This can lead to Metabolic Bone Disease — a serious and sometimes fatal condition.
Also, the eggs may not develop properly, causing issues with her being able to lay them.
It is important to give your dragon frequent warm baths at this point to keep her hydrated. This should be a given during any time of the year but is particularly important during this stressful egg-laying time.
When the female dragon gets close to laying her eggs, she will become restless and start scratching at her vivarium walls more frequently and frantically, or she will scratch around in her enclosure more than usual.
Your dragon will need a lay box at this point, in preparation for her egg laying. As she lays her eggs, she will usually bury them. Normally, she will lay an average of 16 to 24 eggs.
Again, it is super important to keep her hydrated by giving her warm baths after she has finished laying her eggs.
She will lose weight after all this hard work, of course. Have plenty of food available for her, such as greens, vegetables, and feeder insects. She will most likely have a big appetite at this point.
Don’t be surprised if she lays another egg or two the next day, or even a couple of days later.
Signs of Danger
If you notice your dragon acting lethargic and appear to be having troubles, these could be symptoms of egg binding and she should be seen by a vet right away.Ā Other issues may affect her ability to lay eggs as well, such as an infection or swelling of the kidneys. Your vet will be able to tell you what to do.
If the Eggs are Fertile
If your dragon has been with a male, then more than likely your dragon will have fertile eggs and if you plan on letting the eggs develop you will need an incubator. Do your research first! Read this article for more information.
Resources: Bearded Dragon Faq ā¦ PogoPogona.com ā¦ EverythingReptile.org ā¦ RioReptiles.com
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Her own animal experience is vast, having raised and rescued Alpine Goats, Chickens, Turkeys, Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pigs, Turtles, Raccoons, Cats, Dogs, and even an Opossum and Bearded Dragon.
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My Dragon is a little over a year old. She has laid to clutches of eggs. 1 about 2 months ago ( 32 eggs over 5 days) and then another clutch that only involved about 20 eggs just the other day. Iām not sure why sheās able to lay so many Infertile eggs. she has never been mated even by accident Might she stop doing this if she is mated and has at least one fertile batch/clutch. This drains her a lot when she does this and itās very scary
Hello, It is natural for your dragon to lay infertile eggs, the same way a chicken will lay infertile eggs, and the way women ovulate as well. None of these require mating. Yes, it does take a lot from her after she’s laid so many eggs. She has depleted a lot of calcium, so it would be wise to give her calcium every day. Calcium should be given anyway to prevent Metabolic Bone Disease.
Have a look at this very important article at https://reptile.guide/metabolic-bone-disease-bearded-dragons/
All the best!
Hey. Its Bonnie again. I’m assuming Taylor is doing better. She will eat the supper worms more often now. I’m thinking she’s just spoiled. LOL Yes, he does do the head bobbing, quite often. She don’t wave at him anymore. She did when he first “moved” in. He recently shed and now she is. She seems more agitated towards him now. But I can only imagine that shedding is somewhat painful. Thanks for your advise. It has helped. My babies have such different personalities. I just get panicky sometimes when they act out of character. Keep up the good work and thanks again.
I’m glad all seems to be settled now, Bonnie. They are rather mysterious creatures, aren’t they? I wish they made noises sometimes, then we might get a clue. Glad we could help. All the best!
Hey. My name is Bonnie. I asked you about my bearded dragon Taylor before and if sh could get pregnant with one encounter. I’m assuming she’s not because I haven’t felt any difference in her underside. So glad she’s not. So my question is, even though she hasn’t seemed to have lost any weight. It seems like she rarely eats. I put different types of vegies in for her, all types of dehydrated worms and the such in but I can’t get her to eat any live critters. She will chow down on horned worms but not crickets, super worms, or anything else. I have a male and female; stinky Kelly (male) & Taylor (female). They don’t share the same cage. But they are within sight of each other. I thought that being close would keep them from getting lonely. Why won’t she eat like she used to. She used to eat being hand fed and now she won’t. He eats like a pig. Like i said she still looks to be a healthy weight. Should i just continue to keep ordering her horned worms. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. Love your advice column.
Hi, Bonnie. I appreciate your dilemma. My Shirley is refusing to eat very much too. She’ll hardly even drink. Try feeding her baby food with an eye dropper. You may have to try different flavors to see what she prefers. Don’t get the type with fruit. Green bean and Peas are good to get. Plus maybe squash or sweet potato.
As for the male being nearby, does she seem stressed by that at all? Sometimes that happens. Does he do the head bob or does she do the arm wave? They can be such a mystery, sometimes.
At least she’s not losing weight. That’s a good sign. Good luck!
Hi,
I have 2 bearded dragon and I didnāt know that one of them was a female ( the previous owner told me and when I ācheckā I taught it was a male) until she started to scratch the tank and laid 2 eggs. She is doing fine, the only problem is that i never thought or plan to breed and she laid 12 this afternoon. What do I do with the eggs? Thanks
Neferti, Did your dragons mate? if your eggs are fertile and you’re not interested in breeding, you can just let the eggs dry out. Throw them away. I’d be curious to know how many she lays total. Mine laid 24 one time, all infertile. Keep in touch.
Will my beard dragon get pregnant with just one encounter. I’m hoping not.
Oops? No one can say for sure, Bonnie. It’s a wait-and-see situation. Good luck!
My beardie has been laying between 24 and 30 eggs every three weeks or so for the past three months. They are infertility as their are no males around. Is this normal. This last time, she didnāt even wait to dig in her box of dirt.
Wow! She’s been busy! That seems excessive, to say the least. How old is she? Have you spoken with a vet about this? Does she appear healthy? Is she losing weight? All I can say for sure is that you keep her well-hydrated, well-fed, and give her plenty of calcium so that she doesn’t use up her reserves. Keep us informed. I’m intrigued.
Thanks for all the information. It was very helpful. Some other thoughtsā¦
It is very uncommon for dragons to become egg bound. Females can retain their eggs for a period of time while searching for an appropriate place to dig. However if she cant find a laying box and the eggs are retained too long it will become a problem and can be lethal.
Thank you for your input, Julia. I did not know that female dragons will retain their eggs until they find an appropriate place. I’m glad you stopped by!
Can female dragons want to dig if they are not gravid? Jewel, my beardie, started digging a couple days ago. I made her a did box that day. She has been digging and hiding, not coming out for anything for the last 2 days. I took her out and bathed her today. I also gave her some of her favorite foods, she did eat. I cannot feel anything in her tummy and I don’t believe she is any bigger than normal. Can she have the drive to dig if not gravid?
Hi, Sheri. I’ll tell you about an experience we had with my dragon, Shirley, about a month ago. While outside, she started digging like crazy. I’d never seen her do that before. The soil was soft because it led to a mole hole and she dug down at least 6 inches into the hole. Her body was halfway in and I had to keep taking her out in case she got stuck! I put a digging box in her tank but she didn’t touch it. I couldn’t feel any eggs in her belly either. A few days later she laid two dried up eggs while sitting on her log. – Just two. Last year, she laid 27 eggs!
If your dragon is not gravid, it could be several things: 1) Are your temperatures too hot? Sometimes a dragon will dig herself a hole to cool off. 2) Have you moved into a different environment? Is she fearful of something? Is there another dragon in her tank? 3) If she is gravid, she may be having problems expelling the eggs. Keep a close eye on her and if this continues too long, find a vet. Impacted eggs can be a real problem. – I hope all is well with your dragon. Keep us informed, if you care to. Thanks for reaching out. Peace
I have my son’s three year old Bearded Dragon “Pablo”. I have taken very good care of him, he has always been fed veggies, crickets and fruit with calcium sprinkled on top. I give him baths weekly and he loves to swim. My son came home three weeks ago from college and held him, well… he hadn’t eaten in three weeks, and he kept going crazy standing on his back legs clawing the corner of the aquarium. He also was glass surfing and acting agressive. Sunday he got a warm bath and I held him as usual. Monday morning I checked on him and he was just laying around , very pale in color. I thought that he would surely die. I had spoken to two different pet stores and they gave me some suggestions to no avail. I brought him food Monday morning and he still did not move. The third time that I checked on him, to my suprise there was nine eggs laying in the bedding. I removed them. Wow, we have a female. This morning there was eight more eggs , I gave her plenty of food, but she is still not moving around much. I am sorry for the long storry. My question is that since she has never been around a male, will she continue to lay eggs biannually or annually ?
Congratulations on being a grandma! š I hope she has started to eat by now. Do you give her calcium supplements? She really needs that now because she’s spent her calcium on producing eggs. It’s hard to say whether she’ll ovulate again. Some Bearded Dragons only lay once and then no more. Some lay once a year or so. My 4-year-old has only ovulated once, so far anyway. She laid 12 eggs. We had no idea what was coming. Anyway, I trust she’ll be fine. If she continues to refuse food, though, I would look for a vet that knows something about reptiles. All the best!
Hello,
My bearded dragon has eggs (we took her to the vet a month ago and they were at the follicle stage) she has gained a lot of weight recently and become fidgety, she also likes to dig anywhere and everywhere inside or outside the vivarium. We have put her in a lay box and she either jumps out as if to say “i am not going in there” or she puffs out and gives us the evils. I am getting very worried, I was wondering if you could give me any advice. I will be making an appointment with the vet tomorrow so that i can hopefully be reassured that she is ok. She is not ill looking and is eating well.
Hi Chloe, I’m not an expert on gravid dragons, but it seems to me that yours is behaving normally — you’re just not able to read her mind about where she wants to lay her eggs. I had a box all laid out for my Shirley too, but she decided to just lay them while sitting on her log. She had 27 eggs, none of them fertilized. As long as she is not look ill or dehydrated, I don’t think you have to worry. I’d love to hear what your vet has to say about this situation, ’cause I like to learn too. Thanks for the visit!
Jeanne, I am so thankful to have stumbled across your blog. My grandson has a beardie she’s about 2 years old . I don’t know really nothing about them except what my daughter ( his aunt) that gave her to him. Anyway she was fine then suddenly she stopped pooping so much . we had changed her from a small cage to a 40 gallon tank now. That’s about when we noticed she wasn’t going so we started looking things up and found out some information about prunes and oil and warm baths. We’ve been doing all these things . She has popped some but her stomach still seems hard. And now she won’t eat. She’s sleeping alot. It looks like she may be going into brumation but I’m scared she needs to go first. There are no vets around here that will see her. Then I was reading about the eggs thing .We really don’t know what to do and I don’t want to lose her. Before now I was scared of her didn’t even want to touch her now I take care of her ,pet her, bath her, everything I just want to get her better. Can you help please.
Hi Katie. You say her belly is hard. Can you feel eggs? I’m hoping not. She does need to poop before she goes into brumation, and get a fecal sample done if you can. I can give you a connection for that if you like. She shouldn’t brumate if there are parasites in her intestines. Meanwhile, I’ll give you this link to buy some Psyllium Powder. I have no affiliation with this company, so I don’t benefit from your purchase in any way. You could give her some powder mixed with baby food (green bean is good), and offer it to her via syringe if she won’t eat otherwise.
what type of flooring do you have her on? If it’s sand, get rid of that PRONTO. Sand can cause impaction if taken up with food. Impaction can kill.
And good for you for having the courage to be able to touch her and take care of her like you’re doing. Let me know how it goes, and if you have any more questions. Here is the link for the Psyllium Powder.
http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=163
Good luck!