egg absorption?

[lexx]

hi everyone, a week and a half ago a family offered me their 2 leos in a 65gal tank for $20. they belonged to their kids but now they're turning into teens and have a new dog, so the leo's became neglected.

the male seemed fine but the female was way skinny. in the last 12 days pinky (the female) has gained alot of weight and is very active. she is fed everyday as much as she wants and he eats every other day and a much more modest amount.

i noticed that her belly was kinda big for her skinny body, and when i inspected her belly i saw 2 white ovals. yesterday they where gone but i couldn't find any eggs, and this morning i found a hole she dug but again no eggs in the area.

i did slowly lower the temps and reduce the light schedual to make them think it was winter and not breeding season. so my question is did she absorp the eggs because she thinks it's winter or have they simply shifted because she is going to lay them soon?

i'm a long time herp keeper but i've never bred before, so this is very different for me.

 

[LadyGecko10]

Marcia will probably have the most knowledgeable answer for his one......

If she was digging -chances are that she laid the eggs somewhere rather than reabsorbed them but I'm no expert so that is just a guess

I am not sure if I would be cooling them if they are not at a good weight right now and also I doubt that it would be a good idea with a gravid female

Rather than doing that-I would separate the male from the female to keep the male from stressing her

I would continue with normal temps and feeding to get some weight back on the female especially since she is carrying eggs

Make sure that she is getting plenty of calcium and a vit/mineral supplement too

Good Luck with them

Sandy

 

[lexx]

i can't seperate them for a few reasons.
1. space
2. qurantine
3. and you may not believe me - when they are seperated they become very stressed and claw at the glass to try and get to each other - they have been together for 5yrs.

the holes she digs are left open and more like dressions that she ends up napping in.
i'm also glad to say that after 2 weeks she has doubled her weight and is still eating every day. she shed last night and looks to be gravid again so maybe they just shifted or something? but i have a new problem. when i got her i was told she has shedding problems and all but 1 of her toes where missing the tips i thought it was because she didn't have a humid hide but i've provided her with one the entire time they have been with me. this morning i found some skin around her last intact toe - i will give her a bath and try to remove it with a q-tip. i also found a piece of shed in the humid hide. i've never found any trace of skin with my other leos.
do you think her shedding problem is due to something else?

 

[leopardbreeder]

I know a good bit on this subject.

When females (especially first timers) they often will begin to grow unfertile eggs. After the egg(s) are grown, the female is able to sense that the eggs are infertile. They will just "absorb" the egg and take all the nutrients back from the egg.