Odd egg laying behavior in G.luii

HaikuDan · #1 09-20-2007, 08:39 PM

One of my female luii did something different laying a clutch of eggs.
She laid one rather large egg in the open right on top of the substrate rather than burying like usual. It appeared fine and fertile and I put it in the incubator. 2 days later, she did the same thing with a second egg that was more normally sized. After a few days in the incubator they both still good.

Brian · #2 09-21-2007, 01:50 AM

How's her condition?

HaikuDan · #3 09-21-2007, 10:42 AM

She's been looking a bit thin lately but I initially attributed that to her being gravid. Now I've been wondering if something else is going on. I've had her for 4 years and was an adult when I got her.

Brian · #4 09-21-2007, 11:37 PM

So the smaller egg thing is something i've seen in animals that start laying eggs that really shouldn't be laying eggs with the body condition they are in. Some of these look OK, but have some underlaying issue like they just regained weight and don't really have a lot of reserves, etc.

What I'd do is keep her by herself if she's not already and feed her frequently either every other day or daily. You should be able to figure out how much she can eat in a meal. Making sure to feed dusted and insects that have had a good diet.

MAybe if you arn't keep her with a thermogradient. I've done both and noticed ones that arn't in top shape get a little boost. Also make sure you don't dry her out doing that.