is there such thing as false labor?

[veronica]

My african fat tail female is constantly digging and laying the her holes but is not laying any eggs. She has already had 2 clutches but I dont see any signs of eggs in her at this time. Her last clutch was 16 days ago. Can she be having false labor? I've looked under her belly and there is no sightly signs of eggs at this time. I fattened her up really good too.
She just seems to spend all day and night digging and laying in the ditches she makes but after she finally gets out there is nothing there.
Has anyone seen this behavior before?
Veronica Davidson

[veronica]

well i put in fresh bedding in the corner where she seems to like to lay her eggs....well within an hour she was digging and layed 2 more eggs. :)
i got to witness the 2nd egg coming out...what an exciting thing to see. looked painful though ugh
but let me tell you.... freshly layed eggs are like globs of jello. I had a heck of a time getting a hold of them and picking them up.
Veronica Davidson

[Rakell G]

awesome! I have always hoped to see one of my females laying her eggs, but so far no such luck for me, lol. Too bad you didnt get pics of the whole event!

My female AFT's do the digging thing all the time, i've never really looked at it as false labor, but that is an interesting idea

You probably should let the eggs "set up" for a little while before trying to move them........ I made the mistake of touching a freshly laid egg once and ended up accidentally squishing it (oops)

[veronica]

Yeah they were mushy. Were like globs of white jello.
Shes still digging around in there and its been 3 plus hours since i took the eggs out. She put a pile here....and a pile there lol.. i guess she is trying to cover them not knowing that they are gone.. fell bad for her.
I'm glad i found them when i did because she layed them right on the glass on top of the under tank heater... my worry was that they would get stuck.
I would have taken a picture but my camera was upstairs and it happend so fast. they just sqwoosh out. (sp)

[Rakell G]

good thing you did move them then.......... unless you like gecko egg omlets :eek3: lol

[Monte]

I have a leopard gecko that will honestly move the entire display tank of sand in an attempt to bury the eggs. I can't believe it - it's all over the place - it's like she's possessed. LOL.

I'm glad she laid ok for you.

Take care.

[veronica]

one of the first 2 that she had is all caved in today...was due to hatch end of this month or first week in Feb. :(
Kids will be so upset. Well have 4 left and im sure she will lay a few more too...so hopefully something will hatch.

[Rakell G]

keep in mind, denting/caving is a sign of it getting ready to hatch. i have had 3 eggs dent in so badly that i never thought a baby leo could have came out of them, but after a few days BAM there was a baby.........

[veronica]

oh my god i threw it out!!!!!
thank god i just read this one because i have another that is dented in a bit... thank god i didnt throw that out yet... oh man now im feeling sick.
the one i threw out had been moldy .... not real bad but i had lightly sprayed it and blotted it and the mold came right off... oh my god i never thought that it would be ready to hatch... it was very badly caved in though. :(
the one i found today just has a slight indentation now. I'll hold onto it for a while and see what happens....
thank you so much for telling me this.
they were very large eggs compared to the others she had. but they were her first eggs. Since I had read that the first clutch usually doesnt make it i had assumed they werent any good.
oh my im in shock here now.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me.
Veronica Davidson

[Rakell G]

if the one you threw out was molded, then chances are it was infertile.... a teeny tiny bit of mold is OK, as long as you get it off ASAP....... so keep a close eye on this other egg...... 1st time clutches can be fertile, its just not very likely. I have only had 1 female whose 1st clutch was fertile (actually only 1 of the 2 eggs was fertile) I wish i had pics of the dented eggs i had, it seriously looked as though someone had squished them with their thumb- its amazing how big a baby leo is compared to the egg they come out of. Good luck to you and your other egg!

[veronica]

so far this second egg of the first clutch just has a slight indentation but not nearly as bad as the other that i threw out.
Thanks for your input. It helps to hear from others and their experiences.
Veronica Davidson

[veronica]

well im at a loss. 2nd egg from first clutch went flat as a pancake.
ughhh
im writting back and forth on an email newsgroup to get some tips.
i really think the first clutch wasnt fertile.
Im down to 3 eggs now and she is about to lay 2 more any day now. She tends to have them every 14 to 16 days.
wish me luck!!!! :)

[Rakell G]

GOOD LUCK!!! I hope you have better luck than i had my first year breeding AFT's....... i lost ALL my eggs, approx 22, and i was literally sick (never leave an irrisponsible friend to watch your geckos & eggs while you go on vacation)