June 2, 2007
Egg Laying Bearded Dragon
A couple of days before the female is ready to lay her eggs she will begin roaming around her cage restlessly digging up her substrate and decorations. Our dragons run to the corners of their cages and dig relentlessly. Once you start noticing this, you should provide an egg laying box of some type or transferring them to another container to lay their eggs.
I don’t recommend putting an egg laying box inside your dragons enclosure. I have had better success removing our dragon when she is ready to lay her eggs and placing her inside a large Rubbermaid container filled with a dirt/soil mixture.
[snip left][/snip]Once the female is inside the egg laying box, she should begin looking around and checking out the mound of soil. It may take quite awhile for her to begin digging, so make sure to give her plenty of time. Once she is ready to lay, she will begin digging out either the hole you have started for her, or another one she has begun herself. She will dig inside deep possibly covering almost her entire body. Once she has dug out the hole to her satisfaction, she will emerge and back into the hole tail first. There she will begin laying her eggs. Once she has finished laying the eggs, she will cover the eggs with dirt completely. This is a good sign that she is finished and ready to be removed from the egg laying bin.
After the female has finished laying all of her eggs, remove her and soak her in a warm bath to clean off all of the access dirt. This will also help to rehydrate her for she will most likely be extremely thirsty and drink for a long time. Make sure you clean her off well and replace the water before letting her drink. You do not want her drinking the dirty water. Replace her inside her cage and offer food right away. Most likely she will begin eating immediately. This would be a good time for snacks and/or treats.