Egg laying

[Jeremy Letkey]

I finally got to witness one of my leopard geckos laying her eggs. I could tell once I had opened her box that she was going to lay. You could see the contractions in her abdominal muscles. It was pretty cool to actually get to see it happen. After she laid the first one she rolled it back and forth between her rear legs. She then proceeded to bury it. Then she did it all over again.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/JeremyL/Egg%20laying/IMG_6643Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/JeremyL/Egg%20laying/IMG_6644Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/JeremyL/Egg%20laying/IMG_6645Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/JeremyL/Egg%20laying/IMG_6646Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/JeremyL/Egg%20laying/IMG_6649Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/JeremyL/Egg%20laying/IMG_6650Small.jpg

She was rewarded about 3 hours later with a few waxies. LOL

[USAGECKOS]

Very cool, I wonder if there is a reason why she rolled it around. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing these pics, I have yet to see one of my geckos laying yet.

[420Geckos]

very cool indeed! about how much peat you got in there?

[TheHypoGecko]

Very cool, I wonder if there is a reason why she rolled it around. Very interesting.

All leopard geckos do that. I think it toughens the shell and enables it to become hard. Sometimes if you grab the eggs to early from them, before they have a chance to roll them a round a bit, you just end up with soft eggs that usually go bad. Anyways, that's from my experiences.

[Jeremy Letkey]

I also think that the rolling toughens the shell. Also, the peat becomes stuck to the egg and absorbs the excess moisture off the egg. Keeps it from sticking as it drys.
I use about 3/4" to 1'" of sphagnum peat inside the layboxes. The geckos have a tendency to pile it all up on one side. I think it is so that they can get to the heat better. They make a thermal gradient inside the humid hide.

[Ian S.]

I've seen it done as well, but I always let them bury the eggs and relax a while before pulling the eggs.

[g&mgeckos]

Thanks for sharing the pictures Jeremy! I have not had the chance to witness it in my geckos yet, but I usually know when they are about to lay.

[Rick007]

I seen 2 of my females doing this on the weekend. They were not gentle with the eggs, I thought they were going to break them open.

[raiquee]

Wonderful pictures Jeremy...all 5 of my females with visable eggs has their legs CROSSED and won't let em out! :( hmph! lol

[nwheat]

Great pictures!!! :cool: I keep checking whenever my gravid girls are in their moist hides, but I've yet to catch them.

[groovygeckos]

Very cool, I always catch them either just starting, or covering the mound when they are done. Never actually saw them lay yet though.

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Great photos, Jeremy! Yes, for those of us who have had the privilege of witnessing our geckos laying, it is quite an experience! It is remarkable the eggs don't break open as they roll them around with their back feet, and I agree that this behavior is necessary for the shells to harden.

For those who haven't seen this, just hang in there. I have been breeding leos of 11 years (this month!) and it was only about 4 years ago that I was able to observe eggs being laid. It's amazing!

[groovygeckos]

Hmmm.... maybe why some of the first timers eggs stick, and or are soft/infertile?

I HAVE TO see them roll the eggs now! LOL

[dragonflyreptiles]

Nice pics and bueutiful momma there, looks like in that last pic, she is liek Okay, you came you saw now goooo lol

[LeosForLess]

Ya, actually, my first gecko i nearly caught this. I check on her, and nothing, about litterally 5 minutes later i find the eggs, just sitting there, but covered in vermiculite. I had always wondered how they got it on there... Guess i now know!

[CoolGecko]

Must be cool to watch! Not a lot of people gets to see them to lay!

[StinaUIUC]

Very cool :) I actually had my girl Blinkers lay an egg in my hand...she was eggbound so I'd been working on her with warm soaks and stroking her little tummy....finally she started have contractions and pushed it out in my hand. It never hardened....I always assumed it was b/c it had been in there too long...maybe it was b/c she didn't get to roll it?... very interesting :)

[gothra]

Cool! Honestly this is the first time I see picture of gecko laying, and the first thing came to my mind is..."ooh, that's a big thing to come out from behind..." :)

[LeosForLess]

Is that a patty or blizzard? I'm thinkin blizzard, because you may be making "the snowing red stripe" IT also looks like a patty tho, don't know what you'd call that, but that is still cool, never seen a picture before.

[Jeremy Letkey]

She is a blizzard and she was bred to another blizzard. No secret project here. LOL

[BalloonzForU]

Congratulations on catching those amazing pictures on film (lol disc). We were just talking in anther about this a couple of weeks ago. I knew someone had to have to good pictures of their female laying. Nice job!

[420Geckos]

Is that a patty or blizzard? I'm thinkin blizzard, because you may be making "the snowing red stripe" IT also looks like a patty tho, don't know what you'd call that, but that is still cool, never seen a picture before.Snowing Red Stripe?! How's that going to work?