Uromastyx.org

This morning shortly after our large female Ornate got up, I found a very soft egg near a recently laid poop. The egg is somewhat yellow in appearance and I am sure it is a dud. (We had no idea how soft they are, nothing like a tortoise egg). My question is, should I expect more in the upcoming days? Or could it be a week or more. She still appears rather round, so I am sure there are more inside her. Also, is it normal for them to drop dud eggs before the viable ones? Thanks in advance for the help.

Hi Tim

Well to answer your question it is not normal for the uros to lay and egg or 2 at a time. It is usually an indication of a problem, infertile eggs or just simply a improper nest area, or maybe I should say not one to her liking. I would keep a watchful eye on her and make sure she does not start to spiral down. Usually they will nest with dud eggs but not always. Many time uros do not except nest boxes for some reason or another. What I found usually works is getting the orange ceramic crocks or chimney tops. I like the 8"-10" i.d. round ones. I will cut them in half so you end up with like 2 half circles the cut them to about 18 inches in length. Lay them with one end up against the side of the cage and then pack them with damp sand leaving the other end exposed. They will usually dig into it and lay. Has she gone off feed yet? They usually do a few days to a week before laying or they eat very little-like one or 2 bites of food. My philbyi never really went off feed but ate very little and then only like every other day. My Saharans, Malis and Moroccans always went off feed for at least a week. Good lizard eggs although not hard shelled like tort eggs will be very firm, feel hard to the touch, have nice chalky white color and have the pink disk(forgot the exact term). Sometimes the pink disc will not be visible though so if they eggs look good but don't have the disk do not give up on them. Infertile eggs are usually very flacid, soft and yellowish in color.

Keep us posted
Tom

Thanks so much for the help Tom. She has been off her feed for the last week or so. In fact, I was just mentioning that to my wife a day or so ago. I did see her eat a bit or two today. I have a next box in there but the male has claimed it as his. She was looking up the tube today but I have never seen her in it more than a few times when I first put it there. I will work tonight on getting some kind of nesting site for her. I want her to lay them soon. I have wondered if leaving her with the male might have something to do with it. They seem to co-exist together with no trouble. Hmmm, lots to think about tonight. I will get something together and place in there tomorrow.

Tim,
I am not an experience keeper....but I think you gotta get that male outta there. My female became very protective and really did a number on my male sudanese... he got pretty beat up. Also, having a male in there may stress her out.

I plan to keep the male and female separated until the female gets some weight on her after she laid

Good luck!

Thanks Norman, I may do just that very thing. I too have seen our female Sudanese haul the male around by his side. I think I am going to have to do that too. I am certain one if not both of the female Sudanese are gravid. Who knows, getting the males out just may be the trick. I have my work cut out for me tomorrow.

Well, she laid 3 dud eggs at different times today, in various spots in the enclosure. I took the male out and I have seen her moving about a lot more. I saw her digging several times yesterday. I have a nest box inside there, that is very much like the one Greg posted about in another posting on here. She has been in and out of it. I did hear her digging a bit this afternoon, but she wasn't in it very long. She still looks rather rotund, so maybe we will get lucky and get some viable eggs yet. I hope she uses her nest box for them.

Sounds like what my female Saharan did a few months ago.