Breaking her eggs

[andi2010]

My new female sulcata (15 years old, 35 lbs) has just laid for the first time. She didn't dig any holes and just laid the eggs as she walked and broke all 6 of them. I soaked her for twenty minutes to encourage her to defecate and then put her, last night, in the barn on a thick bed of hay and she laid two more eggs. I managed to rescue one dented egg the other broke as she sat on it. Any suggestions on better ways to save her eggs if she lays more today or next time she lays?

Thanks

Andi

 

[Millerlite]

Is there a male around and has she ever been in contact with one? She might not be laying in a nest cuz she already knows they are infertile. They will lay eggs even when they arnt fertile cuz they still develop eggs with no male around. Is there an area for her to lay? Also 8 eggs seems like a small amount for a sulata, I would assume she still has more coming.

 

[Yvonne G]

Has she been with a male?

Most often when eggs are just dropped out any time, any place, they're not fertile. If a female has fertile eggs to lay, she'll dig a hole and put them into the hole.

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Sorry, Millerlite...I hit the send key before I realized you had already answered.

 

[Benjamin]

How "new" is she? New surroundings could be a factor in addition to the aforementioned thoughts.

 

[andi2010]

She lives with a 6 year old male who weighs 33lbs. There has been plenty of chasing, grunting and mounting. I don't know if he is old enough to fertilize eggs though.

I got her last August so she has been in her enclosure since then. The enclosure is 100ft long by 30ft wide with a 6'x4' shed. The ground is very hard and dry at the moment but I don't see any attempts to even try to dig a hole. I live in S. California.

 

[mike taylor]

Try putting some loose dirt in there or give the ground a good spray with the hose to loosen things up. I've had chickens do this when they don't like the nesting box or nesting media .