What Are The Things That may Cause A Leo To Eggbound?

[PDDM]

Well my leos ready to lay and day(according to most people on the forum) and incase i just want to know if and how something can go wrong.i need to know what can cause her to be eggbound and the first signs i should she if she does become eggbound....also to add to that she hasnt started digging bad or good sign?
If anyone hasnt seen my other topic this is how she looks:
http://gallery.reptilerap.com/data/532/1095Image009-med.jpg

also how grams do your females lose after laying????Heres A Pic Of My Leo shes Only 26 grams according to my moms food scale...Matt B. Told me She looks More Then 26 grams though well anyways this is how she looks(26 grams)

http://gallery.reptilerap.com/data/532/1095Image007-med.jpg

shes long then my hand and when lying on her stomach she becomes like 1.5-2 inches wide...her tails still small though...i want her tail to be fat!!!!its like nothings going to her tail :(

[Matt.B]

She just looks alot bigger than 26g to me. I have a female that looks exactly like her and she weight 46g. You could try waxies every couple of feedings.Or butters VERY high in calciom and pretty fattening.
Matt

[PDDM]

I cant find butters or waxies here...silkies i can get and pinkies too...hmmm maybe she is bigger then 26g's...

[Tim and Julie B]

Here's a few things that may indicate egg-bound leos.

Depressed, and cannot be stimulated to move or eat. Appear "tired" all of the time, reduced roaming of their cage.
Vomiting, sever undigestion, runny stool, infrequent urination or stool production. Shakes and spasms, while be active or resting. And the appearance of dehydration, which may include weight loss, sunken eyes and lethargy. However, it's important to remember that a healthy leo that is close to laying eggs may exhibit signs of lethargy and restlessness also. Don't panic unless more than one symptom comes up.

Julie

[PDDM]

Eek well my leo is always in her cave now...And shes eating less and her poos are getting smaller she appears to have these:

Depressed????I dunno bout that one, and cannot be stimulated to move or eat(explain...). Appear "tired" all of the time, reduced roaming of their cage<-----Tired and less roaming for sure

[Tim and Julie B]

Sounds like she will be laying soon!:DThat is why she is in her cave all the time. Do you have a big laying box for her?

Julie

[PDDM]

How big we talkin bout???i have 4 hides...a medium siezed exo terra one(huge for her though...can fit 5 of her in there...a humid hide(pretty smallish but still big for her...that den cave in her pic that shes in(the one where you see her body) which she stays in and small cave...she still has plenty of floorspace in the tank.(26 gallon) But im worried because ive been checking her and shes been doing "leaps Of Fate" and it worries me that the egg is damaged and will stay in her...+ the stress...im a really negative person so im basicaly thinking something bads gonna happen with the whole deal.

[Tim and Julie B]

I don't think there is anything for you to worry about. Her behavior seems regular. You need to give her a laying box or she may refuse to lay and it could "possibly" lead to her "becoming" egg bound. Use a tupperware container of some sort (a well washed margarine or sour cream container works well ) and fill it 1/2 full with damp vermiculite. Cut a hole in the lid big enough for her to get in and out and place it between the hot and cool side of the cage. She will probably dig around in it a lot and make a big mess, but eventully she will lay her eggs:D


Julie

[PDDM]

vermiculite???Never seen that around here...so basicaly its an extra humid hide???I just wish she would lay asap...im worrying way too much :(
Also...is it possible that all her wieght was her energy to make the eggs and thats why shes only at 26-28 grams???After will she like gain wieght faster???
Also today i changed up her tank a bit(added a small hide),does that stress her out???oh yeah she has 4 hides in the tank is that stressful???

[PDDM]

UPDATE: She now pokes her head out alot of her hide shes been staying in...she usualy grabs 1-2 mealworms every 4-6 hours and then returns to the hide...shes been wandering a bit...i think shes really getting used to me :D hopefuly its a good sign for the egg-laying ordeal too :D

[geckomom]

I can understand why you're stressed out, PDDM - I've got a gravid female (my first), not in a position to incubate eggs right now, but I'm still worried, and counting the days...I'm sure everything will go right with your girl - keep us updated, please?:)

Now here's my question: a specific hide for laying, vs. a large, regular humid hide? My humid hide is one of those large rock caves, with moist sphagnum moss, and only one entry in the front. Of course, the geckos use it off and on when they're shedding, and to cool off. I see the practical difference in the hide for laying vs. the regular humid hide for shedding, etc., but will a gravid female lay in the regular humid hide?

Since I won't be incubating this time around, I'm not as concerned about keeping the eggs viable - I am concerned about stressing my gravid female out, tho, and negatively affecting her health, or creating some kind of negative association the next time she's gravid and ready to lay.

Would it be a good idea for me to put a "laying hide" in, even if I'm not going to keep the eggs, for the health and well-being of the female?

Thanks in advance - you all know so much more than I do:o, and I keep learning so much here - since I've joined this site, my geckos keep getting healthier and happier, and so do I (especially the "happier" part!).

Thanks again:D

[Tim and Julie B]

I don't see any reason why your leo wouldn't be just fine using her humid hide. She is accustomed to it and will have no problems using it. Too bad you don't plan to incubate the eggs though:D

Julie

[PDDM]

Tim And Julie-mine too uses her moist hide but it has moist paper towels in it...but im gonna get moss soon...

[VooDooMafia]

Leos are fairly hardy geckos and aslong as they have a moist place to lay there eggs they will. That could be paper towel, sand, moss, vermiculite(sp?).

Dont stress out about yuor animal untill you need to as they know what to do and when to do it.
They way I judge when I think my geckos might lay is when I think they are ready to burst I give them another week.

Can I ask why you are not going to incubate the eggs? If its just that you dont have a incubator set up just use a deli cup and put them ontop of the fridge or hot water tank, I used this method for a full year with no problems( Well I ran into problems the second year as I ran out of space in both places)

[geckomom]

Thanks for the info on my gecko being able to lay in the humid hide.

The reason I'm not going to incubate this clutch is mostly time and space related. I know it's a dumb idea to let them breed when I'm not planning to incubate the first clutch, but...between 2 sons going to summer school, physical therapy 3x a week, injections in my neck every 2 weeks, and the need to move my present geckos into a larger enclosure (they're really growing, and I don't want them to get crowded), plus lack of space to raise babies, and nowhere I know to adopt them out.....*sigh*

You've tempted me with the deli cup idea, tho....maybe I'll give it a try...I just don't want to take the chance of little ones hatching out and not being able to give them good care, or have too little time for both the adults and the babies...guess I should have thought of that when I put the male in w/the females, but at the time, he was young enough that I thought he was a female...:o :rolleyes:

That'll teach me! Eventually, tho, if I can find a good place or person to give babies to (my nieces have expressed interest, but first I'm going to share my library of gecko husbandry books with them), I'd really enjoy incubating/hatching out some little'uns...

And you can be sure I'll be coming here for loads of advice!:D

[PDDM]

Update:Tonight at 11pm my leo was exteremely active and looked like she was looking for something and the lights were on and me n my friend were there too so she wasnt shy...good or bad?

[PDDM]

???

[geckomom]

I'm not sure what to tell you - just have my own first gravid female now, too, and I'm really not sure what the activity means...but I can tell you that my female has been really active lately, more than usual, both during the daytime and at night....hope everything's well, keep on with the updates :)

[PDDM]

YES!!!SHE LAID FINALY!!!!IM SO HAPPY!NOT 1 BUT 2 EGGS!IM AMAZED!HOW COULD THINGS THAT BIG COME OUT OF HER!?THERE THE SIEZE OF HER HEAD!TOGETHER THEY WAY 6 GRAMS!I DONT NEED TO WORRY ANYMORE(i think???) SHES DOWN TO 22 GRAMS NOW BUT I PLAN ON FATTENING HER UP!YAY!

Oh i checked the eggs under a light no pink or viens ony yellowish so there dead right???

[Matt.B]

Ive had some hatch when they look like they are duds so keep em until they burst literaly.
Matt

[TheRedDragon]

Also prepare for the chance that she may lay more for you. My leo laid two sets of eggs within weeks of each other because she retained the sperm. Be sure to give your leo lots of calcium and fatten her up. :) Congratulations, and good luck with those eggs. :)

[PDDM]

Yeah im gonna try to get her to eat alot today

[Matt.B]

But she was never introduced to a male so you dont have a very good chance of her laying again and unless she is geneticaly enhanced to clone the eggs wont be fertile.
Matt

[PDDM]

exactly...so is it safe to say i shouldnt even try to incubate the eggs?She might have been with a male back in december...but i dont think she couldve held the sperm for that long...and even so i accidentyly turned the eggs around a bit so there probably dead....
matt do you mean shell never lay again even if i want to breed her?

[Matt.B]

Na I mean unless you introduce her to a male she probably wont lay again this season if so then they will all be duds. If she was with a male in december she could have easily kept the sperm they only need one "night out" for a whole season. I have found that mine need a "replenish" after a couple of clutches because they are all new to the sex life.
Matt

[PDDM]

but since i felt them a bit a bit and rolled them around and etc there dead for sure right???well just in case there in an incubater at 90 degrees like(F)

[PDDM]

Another Update: she ate 10-14 mealies so far today :D

[geckomom]

Thanks for the updates! Hope there's a chance the eggs are fertile, but if they're not, do you have plans to breed her in the future?

Sounds like she's eating up a storm, trying to replenish - that's good to hear :D

[PDDM]

yep...im happy shes eating well again...and i do plan on breeding her in 2005 :D

[geckomom]

Sounds like a good plan, wishing you loads of success!:D

[PDDM]

Yep thx..i hear your startin to incubbate eggs good luck on that too :D

[PDDM]

K now this thread will turn into an update one i guess...shes back to 27 grams already(she was 22 yesterday!) so her wieghts really coming back shes poppin meal worms like pills!

[geckomom]

Originally posted by PDDM
Yep thx..i hear your startin to incubbate eggs good luck on that too :D

Well, not quite incubating yet - I think the Morrigan is about halfway thru her pregnancy, so I'm trying to wait patiently.....:grumps: :medbugged :bugged::bugout:

I suppose it's pretty obvious - I'm definitely not a patient person.....:bounce: .....I guess, like everyone else here who's gone thru breeding, I'll have to just develop some patience.....:rolleyes:...or I'll end up with my teeth all ground down....:medgrimac ;)