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The other day I found an organgeish colored egg laying in the middle of the enclosure. I saw the female walk over it and push it around before I could get to it. From all that I had read on breeding and egg laying, this egg was pretty much a lost cause. It took me by surprise, because I was told that she was constipated. We could feel no eggs. Ever since Saturday (01.22.2011), when the first egg was found she has been pretending to be a front end loader and digging everywhere. The enclosure looks like the Warsaw ghetto and the male Uro doesn't go anywhere near her while she is like this. I think I have tried every option of nesting box/area that I can think of and she continues to dig. The current substrate is play sand and the nesting area/box has peat/potting soil mixed in and moistened (per Deer Fern documentation). I have had it in the cool side and the hot side where it currently is. She does most if her digging on the hot side. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Tom,

I am no expert, but have read that they will often dig a week or so before nesting. Keep an eye on her and keep your nest box near the warmer end. Doug Dix told me they like it 90 or better inside the nest box. Hopefully in time she will nest. Also, have you separated her from the male? That may do the trick too.

Here's an update... She finally stopped digging. She had to because this morning at 01.45a she started pretending to be Darth Vader (lots of deep breaths...) It scared the daylights outta the male. He took off running... Then she laid 10 eggs (3 orange) but the rest are now in the incubator. She would not let me get near them till she was done. I have the temp set at 93-94 (deer ferns ). The temp keeps going between 88-94. I have the eggs in Perlite (home Depot and Menards were out of vermiculite), but I had heard good stuff about Perlite. Pretty much a 2:1 ratio of Perlite to distilled water, so we'll see what happens.

Congrats and good luck with the eggs!

Hey congrats Tom, that is great news. Did she lay them in the nest box you provided? Did she bury them? I am hoping for some hatchlings for you.

Thanks Spyral and Tim.
So, A couple of the eggs have "dimples". From all that I have read - we are to up the distilled water amount. I pumped in 1.5 ml more and we'll see what happens. I am going to be a mess when this process finally draws to a conclusion. The female was out today and pretty much scarfed up everything in sight. The male is hanging in there and the two are hanging out more like they used to. Any input from smart and experienced people is certainly welcome. The eggs were laid in the nesting box, but I had to put her in it.

Hey Tom,

How are the eggs looking? Last year when I got some eggs from my Sudanese they molded within days. Have you made it past that?

It looks like 2 of the eggs MAY still be good. They are not yet orange. They are speckled and not yet "dimpling"... I am optimistic and have learned much through this.
The status of the 2 love birds has changed a bit. They have gone after each other like gladiators. They hiss at each other and stay on separate sides of the enclosure.
A couple of hours later they are on top of each other and basking...

I think this is her first batch and the next batch will be better. The eggs didn't get into an incubator till almost 2 days after she was done laying them.

Good luck with those 2 eggs. Keep us posted!

The two still look to be viable. There is no dimpling, but lots of black freckles.

I also have a gravid racerunner. Don't know if dad is the other racerunner or my whiptail. Some racerunners are supposed to morph between male and female genders - don't think thats the case here tho'. Poor thing just waddles around like a weeble...