My sweet girl laid 22 eggs and 1 slug today! Last year she had 13, so I was kind of shocked. Really excited, but a bit worried about the mom. It took her about 24 hours to get them all out, and she looks SO tired now. Hasn’t eaten in about 3 weeks. Should I try a smaller meal first? Calcium powder?
Yes and yes. Start out with something like a small hopper with a small amount of calcium powder on it. Keep up the smaller meals for a couple of weeks slowly increasing every time and dusting every other week for 4 or so feedings. I would also recommend giving her a 30 minute soak just to get her hydrated.
@noodlehaus @solarserpents can probably give some other advise as well
Congrats! Good luck with the clutch. A small meal with a pinch of calcium dust should be good.
Yup, I always do a few smaller meals for moms who have just laid. I usually start with a hopper and then keep them on a 5 day feeding schedule while I increase the size slowly.
I agree with the advice already given!
Update: Mom still seems quite tired, but she took her meal and drank some water. Candled the eggs and could see good veins in all but maybe 2 of them (embryo but no noticeable vein growth yet), so I’m hopeful for a large and successful clutch!
Congratulations! That all sounds like things are going well. Keep taking good care of mama and she should recover well. One day in June or July, you’ll have a bunch of babies!