Breeding/weight problem?

J

Jedibean

New member
So recently, June '12, I bought a female for my male and she was 27.37 grams. 3 months later she was 30.56 grams. 3 months after that she was down to 26.14. Here is what I'm wondering, She is a little over a year old, hasn't been bred, and as of Sept., she has been laying a clutch of two eggs every month.The first four were small and yellowish and dimpled and creased. So I started added a teesy bit of calcium with d3 into the food. The next two were perfectly white and slightly chaulky, but still dimpled. I continued with the calcium, and a few days ago, she laid a clutch of two eggs. Both were nice and white. They were both larger and looked normal size, but one had a severe crease right down the middle of one side. The other was perfect. Something I've noticed is since she has started laying eggs, her weight dropped(obviously), but hasn't really seemed to get it back. I was really looking forward to breeding her this month but now at a meager ~24g after these last two eggs, I'm not so sure if her body could handle it, although the last tow clutches have been white. Any help on this will be enormously appreciated, Thanks!

P.S.
By the way I've noticed that on the dimpled eggs, once they were laid, There were little bugs of some sort crawling all over the eggs. The thing that worries me is that they are what I think to be the size of mites. However, they are never on the gecko, and I only see them on eggs. Thanks again!
 
Aimless

Aimless

Super Moderator
yeah, she's not ready to breed. you shouldn't ever put a female into a male's cage until she is at least 35 grams.

I'm surprised she's so consistent in her virgin clutching. is she where she can see/hear the male? you might move her to a separate room?

and what are you feeding her? she should be getting CGD supplemented with properly-dusted crickets. she shouldn't have calcium problems if her diet and husbandry are correct?
 
J

Jedibean

New member
Yes, she is directly across the room from him. as for CGD that is what she eats, but I only give her crickets(dusted) probably an average of once a month. I was originally wanting to give her crickets once a week, but the pet store is about 20 mins from where I live, so it's hard to get there every week. At this point I'm kind of at a loss at what to do. I(as well as my family) was really looking forward to breeding her so this is pretty disappointing.

P.S. I weighed the eggs once they were laid and they were about 3/4 of a gram each. I just assumed the laying the was just a natural part of her "cycle" of something, because I'd never heard of them laying eggs before breeding.

P.P.S. I will try moving her to a separate room and see if she stops laying eggs, therefore not losing the weight as soon as she gets it.

P.P.P.S. Do you have any idea what the little bugs on the creased and dimpled eggs might be? Thanks for any answers!
 
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Aimless

Aimless

Super Moderator
can you post a picture of your enclosure? let's be certain all the husbandry is right in case there are other factors.
for the bugs, it's hard to say - I have little gnats in my herp room; organic soil comes with the eggs, unfortunately, and they like to eat CGD. these are about 1/2 the size of fruit flies and I occasionally see them in there. my cages also have isopods, but I seed those on purpose :) I don't think you'd confuse them with mites. they don't hurt anything. if your bugs are something else, I can't help you.

virgin eggs don't always happen but aren't uncommon either. I got one of my girls as a hatchling and didn't breed til she was almost 3, but she never laid an egg until after being bred. my other girl, I didn't have a as a juvenile, but I was told from the gal who sold her to me as a young adult that she laid virgin eggs before her first breeding year.
 
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