sulcata housing ideas/ worried about eggs

[Shadowbunnys]

so i have an about 6-7 year old sulcata. Im pretty sure she is female and im super worried about her producing eggs and them getting stuck or something. shes curently in a nice pen in my basement with plenty of heat and uvb and this is just for the winter as i live in ohio (she gets a really big pen outside all summer). right now i have a dirt area for her but ive seen my cats get into it and start digging around so ill have to get rid of the dirt and replace it with some comfy carpet. please help

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Do you keep a male sulcata as well?

 

[Shadowbunnys]

no just the one

 

[Tim Carlisle]

no just the one

I was just curious why you would worry about egg laying if there's no male involved. Are you planning on getting one? Do you have any pics you can upload of it's living area?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Just curious why you are concerned about eggs?

 

[Shadowbunnys]

im not home at the moment so i can't snap a pic but its a 60x60 pen 2 feet in height she's about maybe 12 inches long and I'm worried about eggs because i heard that they can produce infertile eggs and i just don't want them to get stuck or anything. I'm also not plaining on getting a male

 

[Tim Carlisle]

im not home at the moment so i can't snap a pic but its a 60x60 pen 2 feet in height she's about maybe 12 inches long and I'm worried about eggs because i heard that they can produce infertile eggs and i just don't want them to get stuck or anything. I'm also not plaining on getting a male

Ok...and that would be a genuine concern. Not necessarily for getting stuck, but the infertile eggs have been known to rot and unleash an army of bacteria. At least that would be MY concern.

 

[Shadowbunnys]

is there anyway to avoid that? i think im just going to carpet her pen and this is just for the winter/cold night in the spring/summer so should i keep a box of substrate for her just incase she wants to lay or is the usual "egg laying" time spring/summer?

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Instead of carpet, why not use a substrate such as cedar mulch, orchid bark, or coco coir? Sulcatas are natural diggers. I'm sure yours would LOVE a nice 4-5 inch deep bed of substrate! Carpet is too dang hard to clean and will start to really smell before long.

 

[Tom]

A few things:

• Females don't form eggs and reproduce until they are at least 17", and sometimes not even then. You won't ave to worry about egg binding for a while, and maybe never.
• Are you sure its a female? They can be difficult to sex until they reach around 14". Post pics of the tail and anal scutes and we might be able to tell early. Vets get this wrong most of the time, even though they've got a 50/50 chance every time. Go do the math on that one...
• They generally don't make eggs if there is not a male around, although there is an occasional exception to this.
• I would not use carpet, as she's likely to try to eat it.
• How about keeping the cats out of that area?