ill red bearded dragon

Question
My son has a female dragon that is approximately 6 years old.  She as always been healthy up to now. She has previously laid eggs two separate times this past year.  We now believe she is full of eggs again, but she is showing no sign of digging or attempting to lay.  She has not eaten in at least 4 to 5 days on her own.  She is not moving much. She as vomited a few times.  We took her to a vet that works with dragons he feels that she is full of eggs and has no room for food which may be why she is vomiting.  Do you have any suggestions on how we can get her to lay.  I am afraid we are going to loose her.  We have been giving her chicken broth with a syringe.  Thanks Kim

Answer
Hi Kim, I'm not aware of any home treatment that will actually induce laying. You can only give her the proper conditions to bury the eggs along with suitable temperature and calcium supplements to ensure adequate muscle contraction to expel the eggs. Once they have grown weak and are past the point of attempting to dig is usually when medical intervention is required. Did your vet mention a hormonal treatment option? Oxytocin is the one that I am familiar with but there may be others. It is used in both chameleons and iguanas to induce egg laying in females who are having difficulty. Failing that, surgery is often performed on these cases. They would perform a full spay surgery, also removing the oviducts so any future egg problems are avoided.