Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

johne.ev · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: Ackie nesting question

My female has been in the nest box all day. got home a little earlier this evening, while lights were still on & checked on her. hasn't laid yet & was busy digging. my question is will i put her off laying if i keep disturbing her? obviously i want to get to the eggs as early as possible. also she has stopped feeding last couple of days, is this normal? she mated about three weeks ago.

Jas · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 9:07 pm Post subject:

My females tend to dig for a few days until finally laying, stopping feeding before laying is normal and a sign she is ready to lay, try and leave her to it so you dont disturb her, you will easily know when she has laid as she will be all saggy around the sides. Also make sure your male if he is in there with her is well fed as i have lost a couple of clutches to the male eating them. Good luck anyway! Very Happy

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johne.ev · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 10:09 pm Post subject:

OK. cheers Jas.

johne.ev · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject:

Came down this morning & dug up nine eggs, all look good. a couple rolled onto their side when i dug them up, just hope they will be ok. offered the female food, but she would not feed will try again in the morning. what do other keepers do to get the females feeding again? i have put them in vermiculite with the four peacock monitor eggs that i have left. is it ok to incubate different species together.

master pt · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:51 pm Post subject:

Congrats!

My females like to drink when they are done Laughing

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GJ · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:03 pm Post subject:

Congrats...just need to hatch them now.

What substrate have you been using in your nest box?

My female would eat right up until she laid and almost immediately after.

johne.ev · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:53 pm Post subject:

Thanks GJ. i used 50/50 top soil play sand, with a layer of sphagnum moss on top. also had a small heat mat on a stat & timer to keep it warm at night.

johne.ev · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:56 pm Post subject:

Sorry, also mean't to add that i fed her a chopped hopper mouse this morning, which she ate no problem.

johne.ev · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject:

Didn't know if i should start a new thread or post this here, so, sorry if its wrong. dug up another 12 eggs this morning, second clutch with in a month. they had mated a few days after she first laid, so i'm not too surprised. in this clutch the eggs are quite a bit smaller, is this normal with a second clutch? female laid in exact same corner of nest box as before. while digging up the eggs had the female sitting on the edge watching, felt kinda guilty robbing her nest, hopefully will get some hatchlings. all eggs from first clutch still looking good. used a heat mat under nest box for heat at night with first clutch, but not second time.

cheers.

PS. When digging up the eggs it made me think how amazing that the hatchlings dig their way out. anyone know how deep they nest in the wild? my nest box is 12" deep.

crocdoc · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:56 pm Post subject:

Hi John,

My female lace monitor usually lays two or three clutches in fairly rapid succession each breeding season. The second (and third, if there is one) clutches are larger in number but smaller in size. A few people I have spoken to have said the same thing about their monitors, so it seems to be a common occurance.

Don't worry about eggs rolling when you are digging them up, as long as you are digging them up within the first few days of being laid. There is no developed embryo or blood vessels at that early stage, so nothing is adhered to the inner egg shell membranes yet (which is what causes problems later when you roll the eggs). Mark the tops of the eggs, though, so you can right them if they roll later in incubation.