Pregnant and I didnt know it!

[XoVictoryXo]

So I have been doting over my male gecko for the past month while he recovered from his prolapse surgery. My girl Xena was acting really grouchy and nippy at me. She has never been friendly but the past 2 weeks she wanted to bite my fingers off.. I didnt handle her much at all and figured she was going thru a grouchy stage. Then Saturday, I saw her underbelly and saw eggs bulging!! I Ran to the store and got that coco mulch stuff and made a laybox.
So....I found 2 EGGS in her moist hide yesterday.... of course, on Easter... Lizard eggs in my home.

I feel really bad that I didnt recognize any signs.. I am starting to think I am an awful lizard mom for not even recognizing things like this! she could have gotten egg-bound and died!
I noticed she was licking an extreme amount of calcium one night but that was it.
I attempted to incubate the eggs, but realized, they aren't fertile, they were yellow and shriveled like raisins within the hour.
I will not be breeding my lizards, it is too dangerous and stressful for them. Lesson learned. But now I'm learning they lay eggs all the time? At anytime they can get eggbound? ugh!

 

[cricket4u]

That is why I try to convince new reptile owners to start with one and learn from that one first. It can become overwhelming. Your not a bad lizard mom, just made the common mistake of not researching first. Well, she left you Easter Eggs so at least thank her for them.:biggrin:

 

[Saskia]

Well, in my case I have never had a female lay eggs if she didn´t mate, meaning, if they are housed separately she will most likely not lay anymore, although this season at least she will probably lay a few more clutches, every 2,3 or 4 weeks you could find a new pair of eggs, if this is her first year she would lay less (6 to 8 eggs tops), if she has been bred before she could lay up to 20 eggs in one year.....

 

[XoVictoryXo]

I guess I should leave her laybox in there then!
She kept eating and drinking water thru out this whole ordeal or I would have noticed something was up. She didnt even look fatter then usual. She still wants nothing to do with me. LOL

 

[Saskia]

Yes! definitively leave a laybox in the warm end of the tank! Females usually stop eating a couple of days before laying, and are very hungry after they lay! If she lets you handle her yo can look in her belly and see the eggs (not now, you have to give her about 10 days after she lays so you can start noticing them in the belly), most females lay clutches every 2 weeks, but some take up to 4 weeks to form another pair...

 

[XoVictoryXo]

She laid her eggs in her hide. But the weird part is how she was able to transport ALL of that coco dirt into her hide, strange!
I cant lie, I am excited about the possibility of babies, and I was sad her eggs werent fertile. I am a little obsessed with geckos and I love them, I would have a house full of them if I could. LOL
She lets me hold her for no longer then one minute, then goes to jump or struggles to get away from me. Sometimes I put my hand in the tank and she arches her back and lunges at me! I dont know why? Just a little crabby, but I still love her! I had her since she was just a few weeks old.
I always felt bad for not holding her much which is why I fell in love with my Rex who was sweet and relaxed and had tank mates at the store I bought him from. I put him in the tank with her to keep her company, and yeh- he sure kept her company all right. *slaps forehead*

 

[Saskia]

:lol:
I had a similar "accident" last season, I kept 3 leos together, 2 females and a male, the female was the mum of the male, and the other female is an albino which was too young to breed last season (meaning, I kept an old female with 2 "teenagers").... I noticed my old female (she will be 11 in october) was gaining weight and one day she was restless, I put a lay box there and BUM!! a clutch of eggs next morning!! I separated everybody immediately (I didnpt know males could mate sooo young!!), luckily he didn´t mate with the albino!! well, that female ended up laying 20 eggs just last year!! out of that little "accident"..... do you have an incubator?? Incubation substrate?? Tank for the babies??

 

[XoVictoryXo]

I had a makeshift incubator I made, because it was last minute. But now I have time to actually purchase a real one. My friend has one for chicken eggs but I wont chance using that because i dont think it is the right settings for them.
I will def buy a tank once the eggs, well, if more eggs, come. But I didnt want to get too ahead of myself!
They would be a pretty albino rainwater/tremper combo!

 

[XoVictoryXo]

OMG wait, she mated with her son?? lol!!
Please tell me more about incubation

 

[Nativeson]

"They would be a pretty albino rainwater/tremper combo!"

No, they would not. If one is Tremper and one is Rainwater....they would produce Normals Het Tremper Het Rainwater. A double het that is frowned upon.
The three different strains of albino are just that....different. They do not "line-up" genetically. No albinos would be produced from this pairing.

Patrick

 

[XoVictoryXo]

Thanks for the info, very interesting! I wouldnt have known! I love albino's but I wouldnt mind any sort of morph babies from this pair. Im not looking to sell them!

 

[XoVictoryXo]

I checked her belly last night, Don't see any eggs in there yet, but she is eating so much its wild! I hope at least one of them turns out to be fertile, otherwise she struggled all thru this for nothing.
If I leave the laybox in her tank, she digs thru it and makes SUCH a mess.

 

[Saskia]

Yes!! Mi girl mated with her son, and BOY did they produce eggs!!!! Mistake that won´t happen again, I have everybody separated now, they take a lot of space in my room....

Leo mummies usually make little messes with their incubating substrate, I use vermiculite and very often I recycle it, I clean up the tank and put the vermiculite back in the lay box...

 

[XoVictoryXo]

2 MORE EGGS TODAY! WOOHOO!
I hope these are actually fertile! Boyfriend is placing them into the incubator now.
She didnt eat for 2 days in a row, I knew it was time! now she is eating like a scavenger. Her cage is currently a MESS with the dirt substrate! must clean as soon as i get home

 

[XoVictoryXo]

I feel so bad for Xena. I will never let this happen again. She looked so tired yesterday, she only wanted 2 phoenix worms and then wanted to be left alone.
I am so sorry Xena Your mom was a DUMA55 for thinking you needed a tank mate!