Female digging but dehydrated

chamlover

chamlover

New Member
I've got a problem!! No she has a problem!! She is obviously gravid and has been digging holes for 2 days now. She is in her laying bin and has been going from one hole to another first digging then putting her butt in then hours later starting all over again. The problem is she is very dehydrated and i'm not sure what to do. She stopped drinking 2 days ago and when i noticed she wanted to dig i made sure i gave her a couple of eye droppers full of pedialtye and water to help her along. I've sprayed the sides of the bin but she is not drinking at all. I'm really worried for her and with no vet open around i don't know what the best thing to do is. If i stop her she might get egg-bound but if i don't will she be able to lay the eggs at all? Help!!!

Debby

Good news. Hubby just checked the eggs from Tasha ( she was my female that dyed during the egg-laying process and we removed the eggs) and they are all doing awesome. We can see blood vessels!! Yeah, there will be a Tasha 2.
 
When I have had a female ready to lay and I suspected she was dehydrated I would put her in a warm shower for 1 or 2 hours. Mike of Flchams did the same thing with his very gravid imported Meller's females and it worked for them, too. The shower will really saturate her with water, and also help her relax. I have even taken a female out of the laying bin to do this, and then put her back in and she laid her eggs.

ANother thought- are you certain the moisture of the laying soil is to her liking?
 
I know but she is one of those gals that flips out wicked. Already tried that and she threw herself 3 x. I finally sat there and held her in the shower but i figured that wouldn't work because she wasnt' drinking or anything. Do you think i should give her the night to keep trying and then hold her in the shower for an hour? Or do you think i should stop her now and do it and then return her to the bucket? Or her cage for the night? And then start again in the morning?

Debby
 
Yes i could do that. Should i do that tonite do you think? I just checked on her and she is just laying in the hole butt side up.

Debby
 
You said..."She is in her laying bin and has been going from one hole to another first digging then putting her butt in then hours later starting all over again"...putting her butt in the hole but not laying is IMHO a sign that she can not lay the eggs.

Have you been leaving her alone or have you handled her at all during the time she was in "digging mode"? Has she seen you watching her while she was digging?

You said she stopped drinking...this also is not a good sign.
 
It started the day before yesterday. She stopped eating and drinking. Even though i thought she miscarried last week i wasn't sure and knew that she might be getting ready to lay so i took her out and gave her some liquids. I feel nothing when pulpating her stomach. Yesterday am again she wouldn't drink so i took her out and again gave her some bug juice and pedialyte. When i put her back in her cage, she pooped and out came an egg. So i quickly put her bin together and put her in it. She has had privacy and she hasn't seen me checking on her. When she puts her butt in and sits for awhile but then turns and starts digging again in the same hole. Hubby says he thinks i didn't put enough, i only have 6-7". I was in such a hurry i guess i didn't pay attention. So the game plan tomorrow will be:
AM....Double the amount of stuff in laying bin
........Put her and cage inside the shower for at least an hour
.......Should i try to give her anything else? Bug Juice? Pedialyte? Or just the shower?
.......Then put her back in the bin and keep the fingers crossed.

How long do i wait? Well there is nothing i can do, vet is closed till Mon. I do have liquid calcium, should i give her an injection to help? I'm really worried about her. She is Tasha's sister.

Debby
 
gesang said:
When I have had a female ready to lay and I suspected she was dehydrated I would put her in a warm shower for 1 or 2 hours. Mike of Flchams did the same thing with his very gravid imported Meller's females and it worked for them, too. The shower will really saturate her with water, and also help her relax. I have even taken a female out of the laying bin to do this, and then put her back in and she laid her eggs.

ANother thought- are you certain the moisture of the laying soil is to her liking?
Click to expand...

this sounds like a good idea... hope everything goes well for you debby...
 
Surprise surprise. I showered my girl this morning and gave her some bug juice and other liquids, she still looks a little dehyd. Anyway when she was in her cage i put that in the shower and went to fix her bucket. When i added some stuff to make it deeper i reallized that was warm because i added warm water and the rest was kinda cold. So i thought take it all out and mix it. To my surprise i found 5 eggs. I don't know when she laid them but she did so i was really happy about that. It kinda tells me i might be just a overly worried mommy. So now she is back in her laying bin and has been for awhile and has been digging. I'll let you know what happens. By the way the eggs look really good so we put them in the incubator.

Thanks for all your help guys.
Debby
 
Update. It is now 11 pm and she is finished and went up on the branch. She is extremely dehydrated and she never covered the hole. I don't think she layed anymore eggs although i will look later, i think she just is too dry and weak at this point. She was butt down for awhile but she has only lost 2 grams and to me that just means 2 grams of moisture. I think she will be going to the vets tomorrow am. I'll let you know.

Debby
 
Vet hasnt been in so i couldn't bring her in. I had no choice but to do the best i could to get her hydrated, which i finally did. She is back in the hole digging agian and i put a plant in there to give her a little more privacy as well. . The vet will be in tomorrow am and if she doesn't do anything tonite then i will be at the vets at 8 am. She did drop another egg today before i got her back in the bin. Part of the problem is she started by being dehydrated and then at night i had to remove her to try to get her re-hydrated again. I know i shouldn't disturb her but i felt i had no choice because I didn't think she could do it if i didn't get some liquids in her. I don't know why she stopped drinking to begin with but that certainly didn't start things off on a good foot. Like i said i did get really hydrated and i think she actually ate a couple of crickets this morning. I've been giving her bug juice and she actually pooped this am, that is when she dropped the egg too. I have a good feeling that she will be able to lay them tonite. Say a prayer for her. I'll let you know later. Thanks for asking.

Debby
 
Sounds like what you are doing is helping her along. She drank, she ate, she pooped, she's still digging, and she passed an egg. All those sound very hopeful. We will pray for her, that she lays her clutch tonight, and look forward to tomorrow's update.
 
First i would like to really thank all of you who took time out and wrote back. Thank you for caring about my little girl, it really means alot.

UPDATE; She has passed all her eggs and is eating and drinking well. Yeahhhhhhhh.

Second; i think i might have been the reason for the problem to begin with and i really need your honest opinion on this one.

The first and second night when she was soooo dehydrated i removed her from her bin to try to get her rehydrated because i was really worried about her and thought that if she was that dehydrated that she would not be able to lay her eggs. But as i look back i wonder if that is why she eventually became egg-bound. Should i have left her alone, dehydrated or not, for a few days to see if she could have done it on her own? I know i worry to much about these guys sometimes and that is not always a good thing. It was kinda like a crap shoot and i chose to rehydrate her. What do you think?

Debby
 
I just now saw this update. Thank you for the excellent news.

There was one time that I "showered" a girl while she was in her bin. Like you, I didn't want her to have the stress of being taken in and out of the bin. I couldn't let the soil get too wet, so I layed down paper towels in there first. Then I sprayed her for a while with a pump sprayer with warm water until I saw her drink. Then continued to spray until she stopped drinking. Then I removed the towels. But that was not a seriously dehydrated female. She had been in her bin long enough that she had missed 2 cycles of the automatic misters that work in her normal enclosure.

I agree with you about the choices. We read about gals who can't lay their eggs because they've been disturbed. And we read about gals who can't lay their eggs because they're dehydrated. I'm afraid I'm a bit paranoid about the hydration bit. I always like to shower my girls before they go into the egg bin.

Was she literally eggbound- did the vet have to induce? Or did you not need the vet, in the end.
 
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