Varanus99
11-30-2008, 08:36 PM
Hey hey. Its the B-I-G to the V, yo. Call me Big V got more game than coleco.
Oof that was bad. Ahem.
Im supposed to be working on an ackie write up but I dont know what direction I want to go in with that exactly. So in the meantime Id like to dig in (pun intended I assure you) to one of my favorite monitory topics: nesting.
You've heard me talk about deep substrates before. As important as I feel they are for single animals or juvies they are of paramount importance when it comes to breeding pairs. Gravid females can be a bit fussy about where they deposit their eggs. And if they cant find a spot they like it stresses them out big time. They may even die eggbound. Or, they may scatter the eggs around the cage. Two problems there. First those eggs are probably no good and even worse the female has just been put through the ringer. Its gonna take her a while to rebound from that and some folks believe that females who fail to nest properly numerous times may have a greatly reduced lifespan.
When it comes to ackies and monitors in general once they finish breeding you want those eggs OUT of the female as soon as possible. Ideally after copulation is finished the female will lay her eggs in 14-20 days. I dont like anything past 25 days because that is telling me the conditions arent right. She's holding them too long. So I try to provide numerous nesting opportunities and let her pick what she likes best.
There are a couple ways to set up nesting. My favorite way and the one most popular with most breeders Ive spoken to is a deep substrate throughout the entire cage. By doing this you have now provided the maximum nesting spots that cage will allow. Of course, you have to use a good substrate. I wont go into that here since thats in the substrate thread but suffice to say whatever you are using should be able to hold a burrow. If it cant its no good. Also even if the animals arent breeding they should be digging in it. If they're not...bingo...no good. Ok, lets say you have a good, deep substrate that the female is ok with (darn females never happy ;) ). You can further increase your chance of a successful nesting by using a few tricks. I like to take a cork bark tube and bury it in the substrate with just a couple inches hanging out. They like this and will sometimes entire the tube, excavate whatever is inside and continue the burrow once they reach the other side of the tube. Ive also buried cork bark flats and they have used that as a "roof" for their burrow. But more often than not they just pick their own spot. Almost always on the warmer side of the cage.
Ive temped gunned monitor nests. Its uncanny. They always seem to be 84-86 degrees. Which is the recommended incubation temperature window. Those females know what they're doing.
I will somtimes make a big pile of substrate on the warm side when I know a female is getting ready to go. Sometimes they like that. And sometimes they dig under the water bowl. Heh.
When she gets close to laying you will notice her doing "test digs". She will be very active, nosing around the cage. Dirt flying everywhere. She may dig out one spot, decide she doesnt like it for whatever reason and move on. But you can usually tell when you have a gravid female just by looking at the cage. Looks like a bad parking lot, lots of potholes. The male will sometimes join in on these activities. Or he may just wanna be left out of the whole ordeal and spend most of his time in his own private burrow. Yeah monitors deadbeat dads too. She may also stop eating a few days before she lays.
Ok, lets say for the sake of arguement you can not provide a deep substrate in the whole cage. Shame on you. You can try using a nest box. Snakes, leopard geckos and many other species are very good about nest boxes. When I kept colubrids they always dropped their eggs in the nest box. Maybe once in a rare while a female would just plunk them down any where but 95% went in the nestbox. I have leopard geckos now and they *always* use the nestbox. Well, monitors arent so good. Sometimes they may take to it, sometimes no. You have to observe them and see if the female is entering it. Look for test digs. You will need a good sized box filled almost to the top with substrate and a small hole cut in the top. I like to use a dark box since I think they prefer to lay in total darkness and a clear box will let too much light in. Wood boxes work but I prefer Rubbermaid tubs since they are lighter and last forever. Some folks have even gone so far as to use flexible, black plastic pipe to make tunnels for the lizards to enter the boxes so no light gets in ther at all. I havent tried that myself but its one to grow on.
You will have to temp check your nestbox to make sure its in a good range. Some keepers will even use heated nestboxes if necessary. Having more than one if the cage is large enough is not a bad idea either.
I should probably mention that some monitors like to lay their eggs in or under something while others are happy just to dig a hole, drop and bury. Kimberlys, blackheads and Id betcha green trees like to lay in hollow logs or under cork bark. Or perhaps even a well placed nest box. Ackies, flavis, argus, savs and other diggers are usually content with a hole in the ground. Not to say they wont go for the in/under thing. But they will often just dig a hole. Done.
A third option is a nesting cage. You remove the female from the main cage and place her by herself in a cage specifically set up for nesting. I cant say Im a big fan of this as you're moving a gravid female to a new environment. I did use this method once. When I got a new trio of ackies and I was surprised by one of the females becoming gravid so quickly. I had them in a raise up cage and I needed to get those eggs out of her so I threw together a nesting cage right quick. I made a big mountain on one side and kinda sloped it down to the other. Then layed a cork bark flat on the slope. Set up a heat lamp over the mountain and voila. Not a perfect situation but she nested perfectly. I got lucky. A nesting cage is an option but I cant really say its the best way to go. But in a pinch if set up properly it can work.
Ok, so Momma has picked her spot and dug a hole. She will now back into it. Thats the sign she aint fooling around no more she's gonna pop. She will back in, usually disappear out of site and lay her eggs. She may be down for 24-48 hours. Do NOT bother her. She's fine. Anything you do will only make things worse, not better. I had one young guy who wrote me afraid she was gonna suffocate since her burrow caved in a little. Not gonna happen. The best thing you can do is leave her alone.
When she's finished she will emerge tired, deflated and ravenous. Get the buffet ready she's gonna eat like there's no tomorrow. Good nutrition and hydration are important to her recovery from egg laying. Feed her well and often. I prefer to give post laying females small meals to start out. Plenty of them, but small portions. Maybe Im just paranoid but I think its a little easier on her system. And dont be shy with the calcium and vitamins. If she dropped her eggs in a reasonable time frame after copulation and nested ok she should snap back very quickly.
Once she's done you can go ahead and carefully dig up the eggs. Then its on to the incubator! But thats another story, true believers.
Bush-League nesting. Diehard. :yessir:
Oof that was bad. Ahem.
Im supposed to be working on an ackie write up but I dont know what direction I want to go in with that exactly. So in the meantime Id like to dig in (pun intended I assure you) to one of my favorite monitory topics: nesting.
You've heard me talk about deep substrates before. As important as I feel they are for single animals or juvies they are of paramount importance when it comes to breeding pairs. Gravid females can be a bit fussy about where they deposit their eggs. And if they cant find a spot they like it stresses them out big time. They may even die eggbound. Or, they may scatter the eggs around the cage. Two problems there. First those eggs are probably no good and even worse the female has just been put through the ringer. Its gonna take her a while to rebound from that and some folks believe that females who fail to nest properly numerous times may have a greatly reduced lifespan.
When it comes to ackies and monitors in general once they finish breeding you want those eggs OUT of the female as soon as possible. Ideally after copulation is finished the female will lay her eggs in 14-20 days. I dont like anything past 25 days because that is telling me the conditions arent right. She's holding them too long. So I try to provide numerous nesting opportunities and let her pick what she likes best.
There are a couple ways to set up nesting. My favorite way and the one most popular with most breeders Ive spoken to is a deep substrate throughout the entire cage. By doing this you have now provided the maximum nesting spots that cage will allow. Of course, you have to use a good substrate. I wont go into that here since thats in the substrate thread but suffice to say whatever you are using should be able to hold a burrow. If it cant its no good. Also even if the animals arent breeding they should be digging in it. If they're not...bingo...no good. Ok, lets say you have a good, deep substrate that the female is ok with (darn females never happy ;) ). You can further increase your chance of a successful nesting by using a few tricks. I like to take a cork bark tube and bury it in the substrate with just a couple inches hanging out. They like this and will sometimes entire the tube, excavate whatever is inside and continue the burrow once they reach the other side of the tube. Ive also buried cork bark flats and they have used that as a "roof" for their burrow. But more often than not they just pick their own spot. Almost always on the warmer side of the cage.
Ive temped gunned monitor nests. Its uncanny. They always seem to be 84-86 degrees. Which is the recommended incubation temperature window. Those females know what they're doing.
I will somtimes make a big pile of substrate on the warm side when I know a female is getting ready to go. Sometimes they like that. And sometimes they dig under the water bowl. Heh.
When she gets close to laying you will notice her doing "test digs". She will be very active, nosing around the cage. Dirt flying everywhere. She may dig out one spot, decide she doesnt like it for whatever reason and move on. But you can usually tell when you have a gravid female just by looking at the cage. Looks like a bad parking lot, lots of potholes. The male will sometimes join in on these activities. Or he may just wanna be left out of the whole ordeal and spend most of his time in his own private burrow. Yeah monitors deadbeat dads too. She may also stop eating a few days before she lays.
Ok, lets say for the sake of arguement you can not provide a deep substrate in the whole cage. Shame on you. You can try using a nest box. Snakes, leopard geckos and many other species are very good about nest boxes. When I kept colubrids they always dropped their eggs in the nest box. Maybe once in a rare while a female would just plunk them down any where but 95% went in the nestbox. I have leopard geckos now and they *always* use the nestbox. Well, monitors arent so good. Sometimes they may take to it, sometimes no. You have to observe them and see if the female is entering it. Look for test digs. You will need a good sized box filled almost to the top with substrate and a small hole cut in the top. I like to use a dark box since I think they prefer to lay in total darkness and a clear box will let too much light in. Wood boxes work but I prefer Rubbermaid tubs since they are lighter and last forever. Some folks have even gone so far as to use flexible, black plastic pipe to make tunnels for the lizards to enter the boxes so no light gets in ther at all. I havent tried that myself but its one to grow on.
You will have to temp check your nestbox to make sure its in a good range. Some keepers will even use heated nestboxes if necessary. Having more than one if the cage is large enough is not a bad idea either.
I should probably mention that some monitors like to lay their eggs in or under something while others are happy just to dig a hole, drop and bury. Kimberlys, blackheads and Id betcha green trees like to lay in hollow logs or under cork bark. Or perhaps even a well placed nest box. Ackies, flavis, argus, savs and other diggers are usually content with a hole in the ground. Not to say they wont go for the in/under thing. But they will often just dig a hole. Done.
A third option is a nesting cage. You remove the female from the main cage and place her by herself in a cage specifically set up for nesting. I cant say Im a big fan of this as you're moving a gravid female to a new environment. I did use this method once. When I got a new trio of ackies and I was surprised by one of the females becoming gravid so quickly. I had them in a raise up cage and I needed to get those eggs out of her so I threw together a nesting cage right quick. I made a big mountain on one side and kinda sloped it down to the other. Then layed a cork bark flat on the slope. Set up a heat lamp over the mountain and voila. Not a perfect situation but she nested perfectly. I got lucky. A nesting cage is an option but I cant really say its the best way to go. But in a pinch if set up properly it can work.
Ok, so Momma has picked her spot and dug a hole. She will now back into it. Thats the sign she aint fooling around no more she's gonna pop. She will back in, usually disappear out of site and lay her eggs. She may be down for 24-48 hours. Do NOT bother her. She's fine. Anything you do will only make things worse, not better. I had one young guy who wrote me afraid she was gonna suffocate since her burrow caved in a little. Not gonna happen. The best thing you can do is leave her alone.
When she's finished she will emerge tired, deflated and ravenous. Get the buffet ready she's gonna eat like there's no tomorrow. Good nutrition and hydration are important to her recovery from egg laying. Feed her well and often. I prefer to give post laying females small meals to start out. Plenty of them, but small portions. Maybe Im just paranoid but I think its a little easier on her system. And dont be shy with the calcium and vitamins. If she dropped her eggs in a reasonable time frame after copulation and nested ok she should snap back very quickly.
Once she's done you can go ahead and carefully dig up the eggs. Then its on to the incubator! But thats another story, true believers.
Bush-League nesting. Diehard. :yessir: