Ambilobe laid eggs...proper recovery?

[cowchick]

My Ambilobe is finally digging to lay her first clutch of eggs. She was exposed to the male, but I don't believe they copulated, so I believe they are infertile.

My experience with infertile clutches (if you can remember from one year ago)...was purchasing an unhealthy pair of veileds and losing them both after her clutch of 77.

Please give me some guidance of what precautions and feeding routines I should be following for her. Also, how long thereafter should I be introducing her to the male as they are both 14 months old. All help would be excellent.

 

[kinyonga]

After a female veiled or panther lays her eggs I feed and water her well for a couple/few days and then cut back the food. You don't want to starve her...but you don't want to overfeed her IMHO.

She won't likely want to mate for a while after laying the eggs. The best way to test her out is to hold her outside the male's cage so they can see each other. If she turns dark, hisses, gapes, etc. then try again in a week or so. Sooner or later she should show receptive.

Once they have mated and she is producing the eggs, you can feed her more so that she can make healthy eggs.

 

[cowchick]

Thanks Kinyonga. That does help and that's what I suspected you might say. I was curious as to how many butters or waxworms one might feed...how much is too much? I wanted to pick up a few to get her going for a few days, she seems rather docile right now and I found her on the bottom of her cage this morning. I thought she had finished digging, but when I took out the box, I didn't see any eggs (from outside of clearish container) so I promptly put it back in and left her alone, and I don't think she's finished digging and she still seems like she has a belly. What I did find was this 'poop' shaped egg like thing just half stuck in dirt at he top. It seems like a poop with egg coating. It's really weird...when I misted it and left it, four hours later the white coating had started to subside a bit...but it's not like a white urate coating. Strangest thing i've ever seen.

I don't want to bother her, so I'm going to wrap a towel around the bottom half of the cage so she really can't see movment when I'm feeding the others, yet still has light and whatnot. She had dirt on her head still this morning but doesn't seem interested in digging. Should I be concerned?

 

[Sepioteuthis]

When my melleri female laid eggs last year so would take long breaks between digging sessions. She'd been digging on and off for 4 days before she actually laid the eggs.

 

[cowchick]

I'm hoping that's all it is...since it's her first time. I'm just gunshy after my first experience a year ago and very concerned and want to take the pro active approach instead of reactive approach.

 

[kinyonga]

If she goes back to digging within the next day or so then its not likely something to be concerned about...but if she doesn't and starts to act lethargic and sit lower in the cage then I would start to be concerned.

I would also put something around the container so that she doesn't dig down to a clear side and think that she really hasn't dug a hole.

 

[cowchick]

She went back to digging and was at it all day, however stopped again. I didn't think about wrapping her egg laying box, because my last female laid her eggs in a glass aquarium right in the corner. Hmmm....food for thought there Kinyonga. Would it bother her you think if I wrapped it in morning if she's not in it?

Currently she went back to sitting under the lamp at the top of her cage and does not want me nearby (which I found out when I took my clothes from the dryer which is 2 feet from her cage...so no laundry for me until she's done). I'm less concerned now, however I'm hoping she will go back to digging and will feel much better after she has laid her eggs. Just want to get them things out of her and get her back nourished well!