Female sulcata sporadically laying eggs..

KamJam

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Joined
Aug 12, 2018
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2
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Kansas
Hey everyone! I need some help. On August 11th we added Mo, a 7 year old female sulcata, to our family. She came from a home where they just couldn't take care of her anymore. She came with three eggs (she was previously with a man in Florida who had males but the woman I got her from was in Missouri). Mo had a total of 8 but 5 of them broke. I don't have very much detail from them other than that and that they were laid on July 13th. Well when we got her home and got her settled in she immediately laid four more in our backyard! One of them she accidentally crushed. Two of them were in a little hole that had some dead grass over it and the other was just out in the open. I kind of just assumed that she was laying a whole other clutch even though 8 did not seem like enough to come from a sulcata (from the first clutch). I have been waiting for her to finish laying this second clutch since there were only three and she hadn't dug a hole herself. I had not seen her trying to dig or find a place so I dug her one myself. It's in the bush where she likes to go to cool off; it is also soft soil and a tad moist (I've read everything I can find and that was what I kept finding to do). Fast forward to today, the 24th, she still had not laid any or shown any signs of being eggbound. She has been eating great and walking around the yard fine and being her "normal" self as far as we know. Well I went outside around 1 pm today and as I was going back into the house a white blob caught my eye. Sure enough there was a sac and another egg. This time it was just out in the open. Nothing was covering it or around it other than the sac. I started to walk around the yard to see if there were anymore and I found two more. One was double the size of all her others and the last one was normal size. They were still in random spots, though. They weren't hidden and they were just sitting in the grass as if they were Easter eggs. I guess I am just trying to figure out if this is normal? Is she stressed out? Or is it something more serious like she's not able to get them all out? I am just trying to figure out why she's doing it in random places and why she isn't digging around. There's a 12 day gap in between the first four and these three, which seems a little steep to me. Any Intel or advice is greatly appreciated!
 

Tom

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It is normal for first time moms to drop eggs on the surface like this. I call it "priming the pump". Without male contact, this will probably stop soon. If you see eggs again, it probably won't be until Jan or Feb., and she will likely dig a hole to lay at that time. Because this is the dead of winter for you, your indoor enclosure will need to include a large deep laying area to prevent egg binding. If you don't have a male, she'll probably stop laying after this next season.
 

KamJam

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Joined
Aug 12, 2018
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2
Location (City and/or State)
Kansas
Thank you so much! What a relief. About a hour ago she was walking around the backyard so I went to check on her and she was back i her bush in the hole that i dug for her and laid two more in the hole! Woohoo!! She's finally using it! Yes, we are also in the process of building her an indoor enclosure! It hasn't gotten below 70, yet.
 

Hutsie B

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Mar 24, 2013
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wow, eggs! how exciting, keep us posted on hatching.
 
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