My girl laid 37 days ago and now it looks like she’s got 3 in her, help!

Has anyone experienced this??? I’m freakin out!!! My VPI axanthic laid 4 eggs 37 days ago, she was empty. Well this is our very first clutch and I left it in there for her to maternally hatch these babies. Well she kicked all the eggs out and I brought her out to look at her and OMG she’s got a least 3 eggs in there!!! What do I do?? I’m assumin her eggs she was sittin on are not valid anymore and quite frankly at this point I don’t care ( I mean I’m bummed out horribly, this is our very first clutch) my main concern is Phoebe!!! Any suggestions, the damn vet of course is closed until Tuesday because of holiday!!!
Thanks, Richard

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Yeah I’ve seen his vid thanks but the difference here being she laid 37 days ago and was empty. And now she’s got more eggs. They’re already down by her cloaca. I don’t want to do anything to her is she going to evacuate these eggs on her own. And that’s the million dollar question, is she gonna lay these on her own. Thank I will soak her in a warm bath and continue to monitor her. She has been poopin here and there and right now she has fluid comin out of her that almost perfectly clear.

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I assume that you have counted the number she was sitting on since you confirmed she was empty at the time?
No chance of her possibly eating one or anything? as weird as that sounds…
I assume it would be amazingly rare, but I wonder if one side of the ovaries delayed in ovulation so it appears almost like a double clutch in colubrids?

Regardless… as she was maternally incubating, I would bring her to a reptile vet immediately. She may not have the energy to pass this new clutch of eggs or her calcium levels can be lower which can lead to a higher risk of eggbinding.
Other things can also be something like a retained ova (Smaller than a slug and more easily missed if up by her ovaries) that has become a source of infection or an abscess or injury to the ovarian tissue causing some kind build up.

The more energy she has at the moment, the better her chances are. I would bring her in sooner than later for sure, so ASAP on Tues.
Keep her comfortable in the meantime. Maybe de a small soak tonight just to see if she passes anything else. But I wouldn’t do more that the soaks as you can stress her more than necessary.

Also, I would consider attempting to candle and incubate the eggs regardless. Incubate until there’s no debate as the saying goes.

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Something similar happened to me. I incubate though. One year I had a first time bp lay only 3 eggs, I thought what a small clutch but didn’t feel or see any other eggs. (She was a good sized girl, even after laying) She ate in a couple weeks. She went in to blue shortly after and then shed, pooped, and also “layed” 2 real small obviously slugs! I would think that yours since she layed such a short time ago, were already there and just hard to feel if they are smaller slugs, and you just noticed them when they moved down closer to the tail. You will more then likely need a vet, unless she passes them in the next couple days which she may since they are getting closer.

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Thanks. No she didn’t eat any of her eggs and I did soak her earlier. She’s pooped calcium spots here and there over the last few days. Like I mentioned I did soak and I’m goin over to check on her and gonna soak her again.
Thanks, Richard

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She was empty man I’m tellin ya. These aren’t slugs they’re huge!!! That’s my worry about her passin them. I haven’t taken her out cause she was wrapped around her eggs. So since she pushed the eggs out, I decided to clean her tub a little bit and check in her. That when I noticed the eggs!!! And seemed the eggs moved down to the cloaca within an hour or so!! It’s crazy, I’ve never seen or heard of this!! The person above you mentioned the 2 ova ducts and like they mentioned I wonder if it somehow got fertilized later and I hope that she’ll just lay these and carry on. Thanks I’ll keep y’all posted!!!
Richard

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Yes please keep us updated, would be crazy if she developed eggs like that!

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Phoebe update: Well the vet thought she looks great and not lethargic so he’s not too concerned. So he said we’ll wait and see, he would much rather she laid naturally and so would I. So if she gets lethargic by Thursday we’ll drain. So he thinks we’ll be draining no matter what on Friday if she hasn’t laid by then.

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Sounds like a good plan! Here’s to hoping she lays naturally for you!

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I’m continually amazed by all the reproductive weirdness reptiles manage to throw at their keepers. Things that seem like they should be physiologically impossible, and yet somehow still happen.

It sounds like you’re doing everything right by getting her in to see the vet as soon as possible and keeping a close eye on her. Happy to hear you have a good plan in place with your vet. Hopefully she passes them on her own!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and Phoebe! :crossed_fingers:(Off-topic, but I have a sand boa named Phoebe. Great name!)

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Well all thanks for the help. I got the eggs out of her last night it was like they were hard boiled. She made it through the night, she looked great in the mornin. I don’t know what happened, in the afternoon I went to check my baby and she was gone…. been pretty devistating, I feel like completely awful :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

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I am so sorry for your loss. I know that you truly tried everything to help her. I am sorry again.

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I am so sorry for your loss

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What a horrible, and unexpected loss! I am very sorry for you, take time for yourself.

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Oh no, I am so, so sorry for your loss. Hang in there and take care of yourself. So sorry this was the outcome.

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Thank you all. This has been so horrible. I’ve learned a lot, if I hadn’t then I don’t belong in the business. This was so painful and a hell of a way to learn but like I said if I didn’t take away something from this, I don’t belong here. Thank you all for the kind words, it still stings, I love all my babies, it’s just me and my woman doin this for the past 3 years and we take care of them on the daily. We don’t have kids, never have so these are our children. We are a small, very small family business I guess you’d call it. I know we’re startin to breed for a livin but when we look at them, we don’t just see dollar signs. We care very much for our beauties. We raise our own food so we know what goes in them. Cleaned and bathed on the daily if needed. They are our life. Again thank you all. :v:t2::v:t2::v:t2::us::us::us:

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I’m so very sorry for your loss. I do know how much it hurts. I recently lost one of my females after trouble with eggs, too. When they’re babies you raised, loved, cared for like beloved pets, it’s simply crushing when they die this way. (I’m still playing catch-up on the Community and just saw this thread.) I hope you’re feeling stronger. I hope the rest of your animals thrive. Prayers for healing for your spirit.

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We’re doin better thanks. We just had our second clutch ever laid and danged if we’re strikin out!! My Pastel het Hypo female bred to my Patel dh Hypo/Clown. She laid 5 eggs, 3 slugs, 1 boob and 1 big old healthy egg. We’re bummed about it but we’re excited about the healthy one. This is all part of it. I wanted to do this 45 years ago but had no support. Had a step monster, he was an absolute jerk!! Oh well that’s a whole different story, I guess my point is better later than never. This is just the beginnin of our trip!!:v:t2:

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Sorry to hear about the disappointing clutch, that’s a bummer.

Definitely incubate that boob egg, though! It’s my understanding that they’re often good and viable and frequently hatch out perfectly healthy babies. So you may have two good eggs.

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Great advice there! I have had almost all my boob eggs hatch so unless your sure it’s infertile incubate until it hatches or is for sure not viable!

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