Need advice--Sulcatas displaying breeding behaviour?

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Posted by Craig McDonald on June 29, 2002 at 20:15:25:

Hello all. We own 3 Sulcatas. the oldest (Rapture) is about 5-6 years old, and weighs almost 50 lbs. Our male (Parry) is a little smaller, and weighs about 35-40 lbs. The other female (jolie) is too small to be involved in this.
About 4 or 5 months ago, we noticed mud on the carapace of Rapture. My wife even saw Parry on top of her back, but not copulating. In the succeeding months, we have seen Rapture "mounted" on Parry several times,. We asked the Vet, adn they said they might just be establishing dominance. Anyway, today, we went out to check on them in their pen and we saw that the grass in one corner of the pen is turned up, and there are dig marks in the dirt beneath.
I understand that Sulcatas tend to be diggers, but my understanding is that they generally dig to get out of the heat. It has been really hot here lately, but they have a huge house that they generaly go into to escape the heat. They have never dug intheir pen before today. I know that female Sulcatas can hold on to the sperm of the male for long periods of time, and that females have to dig to lay their eggs. I need advice. We are going to make an appointment for Monday to have Rapture X-rayed to see if she has eggs, but I would love some input from other Sulcata owners and breeders.
Thanks, everybody.

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Re: Need advice--Sulcatas displaying breeding behaviour? Matt J. 06/29/02 (0)

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: Hello all. We own 3 Sulcatas. the oldest (Rapture) is about 5-6 years old, and weighs almost 50 lbs. Our male (Parry) is a little smaller, and weighs about 35-40 lbs. The other female (jolie) is too small to be involved in this. : About 4 or 5 months ago, we noticed mud on the carapace of Rapture. My wife even saw Parry on top of her back, but not copulating. In the succeeding months, we have seen Rapture "mounted" on Parry several times,. We asked the Vet, adn they said they might just be establishing dominance. Anyway, today, we went out to check on them in their pen and we saw that the grass in one corner of the pen is turned up, and there are dig marks in the dirt beneath. : I understand that Sulcatas tend to be diggers, but my understanding is that they generally dig to get out of the heat. It has been really hot here lately, but they have a huge house that they generaly go into to escape the heat. They have never dug intheir pen before today. I know that female Sulcatas can hold on to the sperm of the male for long periods of time, and that females have to dig to lay their eggs. I need advice. We are going to make an appointment for Monday to have Rapture X-rayed to see if she has eggs, but I would love some input from other Sulcata owners and breeders. : Thanks, everybody.

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