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Need assurance plz

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gilberysgeckos

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Hi all, as some of you may know my female is gravid (I think) she was bred on friday the 13th of May, this friday will be the 4th week sonce the mating occurred and im getting real worried. She isn't eating which is a sign she will lay and she seems to have eggs. She was digging in her laybox but stopped about 3 days ago??? Today i realized she had had a little dig around in there again but nothing like she was. I just need some help or assurance on the matter in all honesty, this is my first time breeding and my girls my first year so im quite worried as im sure some can imagine. She seems to have lost quite a bit of weight in her tail. last time i weighed her she was at 53 grms after weighing her today she is now at 50grms again which she was before being bred. Any help or comments are muchly appreciated. You can see the girl that has been bred on my site, the girl is Fanta. http://www.gilberysgeckos.co.uk
 

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1st timers do take longer, Ive had a few that took 4 -5 weeks and really looked like they would bust but they didn't lose any weight.

Just make sure the lay box is moist, not too wet but if it isn't moist enough she may hold the eggs waiting for a suitable lay area.

You may even want to add a new different lay box, maybe she just doesn't like that one, I have some that prefer a different container than some of the other females.

Good luck with her and Im sure she will lay for you soon!
 
Thankyou for the reply Wendy muchly appreciated, I have good news. My girl laid last night, both eggs are now sat in the incubator cooking nicely. So time to fatten her up again for the next lay. Am i right im saying she will her next 2 in 2 weeks? Thanks again wendy.
 
2 weeks is the average. Some females lay sooner and some take longer. I have some seasoned vet laying every 10 days like clockwork. Some first timers every 4 weeks. Some that are very sporadic.
 
Mine lay like that also, I have some that are on the 10-14 days everytime and some that take 21-25 days. I usually start looking for a mess from the lay box daily after day 8 just in case but some till take 3 weeks or so.
 
I can understand your worry! First time breeders tend to take a little longer to lay their first clutch, and egg-binding can be an issue, especially if the female is underweight or too young... which doesn't sound like the case here.The most common reasons females can become egg-bound is due to a lack of an appropriate place to lay her eggs. As long as you have a moist lay-box and she is digging around in it is a good sign that she knows where to go! If she has not eaten for over a week, you might want to consider giving her a dropper-full of baby food squash with some calcium powder and a few drops of Pedialite mixed in with it. Calcium if beneficial for the smooth muscles of the uterus to contract.

If she continues to lose weight without laying hr eggs, she may need a trip to the vet for an injection of Oxytocin, a hormone that causes the uterus to start contracting. This works best if given an injection of liquid calcium just prior. I have seen this work about 50% of the time.

In the meantime, just keep an eye on her for signs of severe distress... otherwise pacing the floor waiting for the event is par for the course! Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Thanks for all your assurance efforts, she did lay nice big fat eggs. She laid yesterday and when i checked on the eggs this morning they were dented in at the top! Does this mean they are infertile or is my humidity too low, i have it at 90% humidity and the eggs are in vermiculite.
 
They could be infertile, a lot of my 1st timers clutches were but you never know. The humidity sounds fine, is there a lid on the egg conatiner? You can also put a slightly damp (not wet) paper towel on top of the eggs, that will often get the dents out of good eggs, or cover them with some of the moistened vermiculite for a day or 2.
 
Dont be too disappointed if the eggs turn out to be infertile..... 9 times out of ten, the first clutch is infertile for first time females..... It is to be expected.....

I just want to touch on something that Marcia said...... I do not feel that a common cause of egg binding is lack of a proper place to lay...... It can certainly be a cause, but it is not a common one...... If a reptile can not find a good spot to lay, they will usually dump them off anywhere..... Most of the time they will end up in a water dish....

A reptiles self preservation mechanism kicks in and they will drop the eggs......
 
dragonflyreptiles said:
You can also put a slightly damp (not wet) paper towel on top of the eggs, that will often get the dents out of good eggs, or cover them with some of the moistened vermiculite for a day or 2.
Click to expand...

Although this may work to help plump them up, you may also run the risk of overhydrating them even if the paper towel is just damp.......

You are much better off leaving the eggs as they are...... They will soak up the needed moisture on their own.....
 
good news

Great!!! Glad she laid 'em! Hopefully they are fertile, but I agree that first clutches sometimes are not.
I just want to touch on something that Marcia said...... I do not feel that a common cause of egg binding is lack of a proper place to lay...... It can certainly be a cause, but it is not a common one...... If a reptile can not find a good spot to lay, they will usually dump them off anywhere..... Most of the time they will end up in a water dish....
Click to expand...
I'm glad you haven't had any problems with your girls being picky where they lay, Gregg! When they do lay eggs in the water dish, it is because they feel it is the most appropriate place to lay them. Some first timers can be especially confused until they learn where to lay their eggs, and can have a higher risk of egg-binding for that reason. Fortunately it may not be as common for this to be the reason for egg-binding because most of us utilize moist hides now, which is a practice that was not done up until about 4-5 years ago.
 
Golden Gate Geckos said:
Great!!! Glad she laid 'em! Hopefully they are fertile, but I agree that first clutches sometimes are not.
I'm glad you haven't had any problems with your girls being picky where they lay, Gregg! When they do lay eggs in the water dish, it is because they feel it is the most appropriate place to lay them. Some first timers can be especially confused until they learn where to lay their eggs, and can have a higher risk of egg-binding for that reason. Fortunately it may not be as common for this to be the reason for egg-binding because most of us utilize moist hides now, which is a practice that was not done up until about 4-5 years ago.
Click to expand...

Hey Marcia, thanks for the clarification..... I do have a couple of picky girls..... They get duel nest boxes when their time comes to lay....

I guess being mostly a snake guy, I have been utilizing humid hides for just about as long as I have been breeding reptiles....
 
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