Okay, so I have been doing some reading up on this and am concerned. My female WDs are certainly old enough to start laying eggs but I don't have a male yet. I am building a large enclosure that will include sandboxes for the girls - just in case they get this urge. However, is this true for all females or rare for them to do this with no males? Mine don't seem to be preparing for egg laying but how do I really know - I haven't been through that stage with my girls yet. Is there some sort of behavior I should be monitoring more closely? I don't want them to become egg bound - that sounds horrible.

All females will lay eggs with or without a male, so it is essential that a laybox is provided. ALL female dragons will lay eggs without a male; it is NOT a rare but rather a completely normal occurrence. How long are the water dragons? A female can start to lay eggs at eighteen inches snout to tail length, or eighteen months of age. However, it depends on the female when she will lay her first clutch. Some do not lay eggs until they are three years old, while others lay eggs right at eighteen months. But a laybox should be provided as soon as a female is eighteen inches long.

You will not notice them really preparing to lay. A gravid female will become fat and may eat less or stop eating completely. You may be able to feel the eggs in her belly, but not always. She may dig around looking for a place to lay. Once she finds a suitable laying area, she will dig up a hole, put her butt over the hole, lay the eggs, and cover up the hole again. They are amazing at covering up the holes. They first throw dirt back in, and then "nose drill" the dirt until it appears that there never was a hole at all. Anyways, they do not seem to actually "prepare" to lay eggs until the day they do.

To prevent egg binding, you need to provide a laybox. A female will become egg bound if she cannot find a suitable place to lay her eggs. The laybox should be long and wide enough for her to move around in, and be filled with at least six inches of moist soil. You should mist the soil in the box to keep it moist, but not soaked so that it can hold a hole well. Do not use sand - it will not hold a hole. Clean, moist soil (without fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) is the best and most natural digging material. You should also provide the female more calcium to replace the calcium she loses during egg laying.

what happens to the egg ? i mean if there is no male , and the female will lay eggs , does that mean there will be baby WD? im just curious

The egg wont be fertilized, so there wont be any baby water dragons unfortunatly they just lay blanks

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one of my female iguanas is doing that at the moment. I totally did not expect this right now, but apparently she feels the need to be different, lol.
you have gotten good advice,, I just prepared a box and stuck it under Ziggys enclosure. (she is one of the free roamers I have)
Hers may be fertilized as I heard she was with a male before she came here,, however I will freeze them and then discard them.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Okay, so I have been waiting for this because I knew it was coming. No eggs so far in the box I set up for her but I found one just lying on the floor of the terrarium under her favorite basking spot (she appears to have dropped it while lying up on her favorite vine. This is my first ever egg from her (she has no male, so they are not fertilized... I discarded it). I only found one egg... in a first clutch, what is the norm as far as number of eggs? And, if she lays one egg... how long should it take her to pass the rest? I don't know what to expect - so, any information from experienced owners would be greatly appreciated. Please advise as soon as possible. Thank you.

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My Reptiles:
2 Female Water Dragons (Emmie & Zoey) - 2 yrs old
More About My Own WDs:
Water Dragons, Not Just Lizards
Emmie & Zoey
Reptile Wishlist:
Uromastyx
Frilled Dragon
Mtn Horned Dragon
Eastern Water Dragon
Boyd's Forest Dragon
Okay, not a reptile, I know - but, sugar gliders!
Favorite Reptile:
My WDs of course. They are so awesome.

~ Jess ~

Most the times this is true. Their are a few species that if kept without a male for long periods will attempt to 'clone' themselfs in a way. By producing fertile eggs from a single set of DNA. In attempt to produce males. Most times the eggs do not go full term or the young are deformed in some way. Though their have been a few cases of healthy young. I know last season their was a case of this in cornsnakes, though some other species have been know to do this that are not normaly known as being able to.

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I just added photos to my gallery of Emmie in her lay box with a non-sperm produced egg... thank goodness she finally figured out what the box was for but she is not digging and when I think I will help motivate her - she fills in my holes. LOL.

__________________
My Reptiles:
2 Female Water Dragons (Emmie & Zoey) - 2 yrs old
More About My Own WDs:
Water Dragons, Not Just Lizards
Emmie & Zoey
Reptile Wishlist:
Uromastyx
Frilled Dragon
Mtn Horned Dragon
Eastern Water Dragon
Boyd's Forest Dragon
Okay, not a reptile, I know - but, sugar gliders!
Favorite Reptile:
My WDs of course. They are so awesome.

~ Jess ~