Female borbonica ready to lay

mkschaefer · #1 04-21-2011, 06:12 PM

I have been watching this female carefully and she looks like she will lay any day now. It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but she has ballooned!

I have kept these borbonica (agalegae) mater in a trio. I have not kept any of my Phelsuma in a trio before, so I have been watching them carefully. I know and respect people who have kept certain species in 1.1 and 1.2 (or more) ratios.

I do not think that I will keep them in a trio anymore as I wonder if pairs will actually produce more than trios will. I have not observed any conflicts between the females, but I surely cannot perceive everything that a reptile perceives as causing stress.

I may just rotate the male, unless I can find another one. Your thoughts?

I thought it would be easier to remove one of the females (both appear gravid) and sequester her in a small critter keeper until she lays. I hope this will help me locate, take care of, and incubate the eggs.

I am surprised I was able to collect this female so easily. They are extremely fast. The other female kept diving into the Sansevieria and easily evaded me amidst the plants and bamboo. I figured I would just leave her and see where the eggs turned up. The breeder, Kurt Lantz, suggested that I put screen up in the corners. I may try that.

daggekko · #2 04-21-2011, 06:54 PM

Wow!! Congratulations!! I can clearly see how fat she is and see the eggs in her belly. My personal opinion about the kritter keeper is no good.(I know I could be wrong as well, but I wouldn't try it in fear of too much stress by the cramped living space).

I see and agree as well about it helping you find and take care of the egg.

My 2 geckos usually look fatter than that for about 2 weeks before actually laying the eggs. Maybe a little less or a little more time. Good luck however you choose to go though!

Sgvreptiles · #3 04-21-2011, 07:29 PM

I personally leave all my animals in there tanks and let them choose were they want to lay. Taking them out too close to laying can cause a female to reabsorb her eggs or possibly die from stress.

Rotating males can work well, but the possibility of them fighting i think increases when they separate for any period of time and are then reintroduced. I was going to do the same with my borbonica and rotate the male, but as soon as I paired him with one female and they got along great right away, I decided to sell the other female. Just some thought to add to the bucket.

mkschaefer · #4 04-21-2011, 10:04 PM

I'm hoping there is a fertile clutch developing...she laid this infertile egg tonight.
Jeff, I am going to look for another male.

Sgvreptiles · #5 04-21-2011, 10:07 PM

That egg looks ok. Id incubate it. And give her a month or 2 to rest up and gain some weight.

mkschaefer · #6 04-21-2011, 10:16 PM

In the picture it looks okay. In person it does not look as good. I was not at home from just after initially posting to about 8:00pm. It was laid some time during my absence. I hope it hardens soon, but do not have high hopes.

LLDG · #7 04-21-2011, 11:38 PM

I posted in another thread about Phelsuma: When it comes to Phelsuma, patience is important.

Don't give up on the egg yet.

I've been known to keep one up to the est hatch date before bothering it. If it is gonna hatch, it's gonna hatch.

Kritter Keepers: have their use under certain circumstances. I don't use UV light and instead choose to supplement with additional D3 and calcium. I can use the Kritter Keepers for smaller day geckos who are not breeding.

I also use Kritter Keepers to house gravid females in so I can control where the egg is laid. Gluers are especially difficult to temperature control but if the egg is laid in a Kritter Keeper, I can remove the female and incubate the egg in the Kritter Keeper in the temperatures I need.

mkschaefer · #8 04-21-2011, 11:49 PM

Leann,

Thanks for the input. I got the idea of the Kritter Keeper from the P. cepediana annals I read through that you had posted on the other site. I won't give up on the egg, but it does appear different than normal, fertile eggs. We'll see.

Last year I had a standingi clutch that fell while the female was laying. She appeared to have been disturbed by the curious male. I think he was just curious as to what she was up to, haha. I repaired the eggs with clear nail polish. I believe someone else suggested this or I read it somewhere. One of the eggs was more heavily damaged and was not in good shape after a while. I took a very small drill bit, punctured the egg, drained it, and meticulously broke off some of the remaining shell. I then placed the other egg back in the incubator.

The other egg hatched and the standingi has grown into a very nice young female. I have a male in line for her and will be able to pair them in 1.5-2 years. Maybe I'll have a similar story to tell here!

LLDG · #9 04-22-2011, 12:37 AM

I've tried nail polish on damaged eggs with no luck BUT your idea of covering it with another piece of egg! Brilliant!

I will try it sometime (I have hundreds Phelsuma egg shells I've kept all these years).

Thanks for the idea!

mkschaefer · #10 04-22-2011, 09:42 AM

I actually wish I would have thought about your observation. I didn't ever think of covering it with another section of egg shell, so you get all the credit for that idea. I just put some nail polish on the developing egg and removed as much of the destroyed egg as I could.

Here is the shriveled borbonica egg, as of this morning: