What do you make out of this? Building or getting ready to lay eggs, I have been observing this behavior since late march or early april, I can’t say for sure exactly. I don’t know if I missed her ovulation or she didn’t have it yet. But these are the dates that I marked as maybe her pre-lay shed (May 1, 2026) and (May 28, 2026). Last time i fed her was also (May 28, 2026), I didn’t offer her any after that, so I’m not sure if she’s off feed. I would also like to add that I live in a tropical country, so I can’t really say anything about her behavior in regards to staying on the cold side or hot side, cause I just use the ambient temp/humidity here. I would also include that this is one of my girls that didn’t go last year.
1st Lock: December 3, 2025 (Lock)
2nd Lock January 7, 2026 (Lock)
3rd Lock: February 1, 2026 (Lock)
4th Lock: March 1, 2026 (Lock)
5th Lock: March 15. 2026 (Lock)
6th Lock: April 1, 2026 (No Lock)
7th Lock: April 15, 2026 (No Lock)
Pre-Lay Shed: May 1, 2026
What I meant in the “no lock” is i haven’t observed them lock, maybe I’ve missed it. She is currently around 1800g. Thanks for the responses.
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Given you can clearly see the eggs in her belly, you are well past the “building” stage
I suspect she will drop soon, have your incubator ready
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Oh my bad, she was this fat last year and did not go, so I was not so sure. Was her prelay shed May 28, 2026? And the May 1, 2026 was a normal shed? Or is this one of the rare instances that a female had 2 shed cycles before laying?
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I am guessing the 1Apr and 28Apr sheds you mentioned above were supposed to be May and not April?? If that is the case, my suspicion is that you just have one of those odd girls that sheds twice before dropping. I also suspect that means she will not have the normal post-lay shed, but I could be wrong there
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oh yes it was supposed to be may 1 and may 28, sorry my bad with the typo.
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Update question: Should I be worried, cause she still haven’t dropped eggs but is currently in shed again right now?
Is she acting unusual in any way? If not, then I would just keep tabs on her and let her do her thing
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She just moves a lot, are there any other cases of having 3 shed cycles between ovulation and laying? I only found one. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y91G6e5gVb4. Is there any reason why some females have 2 or 3 shed cycles between ovulation and laying, or is it just some unexplained phenomenon?
Roaming behaviour usually indicates that she is trying to find a spot she likes before laying. However, it can also indicate that she may be bound and is trying to use the motion to help get things moving
Can you provide a pic of her full tub? This might give me an idea if I can offer suggestions to help the prior
For the latter, I only have two suggestions. The first is a non-invasive DIY that might help if it is just a positioning thing - Take your girl and pic her up. Supporting her right where she has turned back on herself in your picture above, let the rest of her body just dangle straight down. Now, when I say that I DO NOT mean drop her back end down like dropping a rock from shoulder height. Get her positioned using both hands and then remove the hand supporting her back end. Hold her like that for about thirty seconds and then return her to her tub. Doing this can help slide things a little
After I check your setup we can discuss further possible actions
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She dropped her third shed today. I also did the dangling thing. My other 2 females are taking a long time too, but they didnt shed 3 times like her, just once. And actually another one of my females laid 22-24 days post prelay shed with no issues. Could it be my temps, because ambient temp around here is 32-30?, though its pretty humid because of the rainy season? Also my females last year all laid during the month of march exclusively, where it was hotter here last year. She moved most of the substrate to the other side, and a couple of days ago she was coiled tail in on the other side, but i check the next day, she just keeps moving from one spot to another.
I would add more substrate and make sure it is well hydrated first (the stuff you have in there looks pretty dry. Your ambient humidity might be high but localized inside the tub I suspect it is much lower
Your tub also looks very small for a breeder female
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This is noted, thank you. I’d make improvements asap.
