Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, this is weird. It almost looks like the beginnings of an egg that never grew a calcium shell? I didn't have a ruler so I took a picture of it next to a 1cc syringe to give an idea of the size of it.

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Sierra
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...proudly loving and feeding...
Derby, Pele & Nikki (2.1 horses)
Diamond & Mrs Potts (1.1 bullsnakes)
Freshie & Other (1.1 boas)
Trip, Obie, Play, Roxy, Boudicca, & Squirrel (3.3 leopard geckos)
Gelly the redfoot & the no-name-sulcata
Shaun (1.0 fiance)

Thanks to all who responded to my questions and concerns regarding Boudicca. I am continuing to deal with this, but am glad to say surgery has almost been taken off the table.

Boudi's still on daily medication, and has begun passing liquids (and whatever that other thing is in my previous post). She still won't offer to eat, but her abdominal swelling has gone down significantly. She is becoming more active. We have our third vet apt this Friday. The last apt was a letdown as all he did was pick her up, poke her belly, and ask to see her again in a week. (funny how a "find out nothing" checkup cost the same as a "this is what's going on" checkup)

Here is a picture of Boudicca's belly after passing the "thing" ... I think she looks pretty good for a gecko who hasn't eaten in two months ...

Here is a picture of her current setup (Note, I have given all my leos their own calcium dishes, but none seem to "get" what they are for. How often do your geckos actually use their free-choice calcium?)

... and here is a picture of Boudicca after playing in the sand (btw, I love her sooo much!)

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Sierra
-----
...proudly loving and feeding...
Derby, Pele & Nikki (2.1 horses)
Diamond & Mrs Potts (1.1 bullsnakes)
Freshie & Other (1.1 boas)
Trip, Obie, Play, Roxy, Boudicca, & Squirrel (3.3 leopard geckos)
Gelly the redfoot & the no-name-sulcata
Shaun (1.0 fiance)

Weight-wise, she looks OK. That may be an egg "yolk". You can possibly have the vet send it to a pathology lab for verification. I put my prey insects into the calcium dish, after the "shakeNbake" with Calcium. Some geckos will lick the calcium as needed.

This is around the time of year that females leos are roaming around looking for mates because they have nice, big follicles developed, ready to ovulate and be fertilized (or laid as slugs like yours did, as LarryF pointed out).

When you know what you're looking for, a glimpse at your gecko's belly can show you the developing follicles. Here's a photo I snapped of my female in May:

See those large whitish masses? Those are developing eggs (whether they are follicles or have ovulated I can't tell, personally. It's possible, but I'm not that good ). If the gecko is not mated, sometimes these will have shells deposited and the gecko will lay slugs, sometimes they will be resorbed by the body.

Because the follicles/ova/eggs take up a lot of space in the gecko's coelom ("abdomen", she won't be very hungry, usually. It is not uncommon for leos to eat very little or not eat at all over a few months. This should not be a problem if the gecko was healthy in the first place and if you have good husbandry (keep her temps in the proper ranges, lots of hiding places and room to exercise, calcium dish available, offer some food anyways, and keep her clean).

Your girl does look quite healthy in the more recent photo, nice plump tail and good body condition. As long as she stays alert and active, you needn't worry.

Dystocia is the term for difficulty or complications while giving birth, but for egg-laying animals like many reptiles it's a bit of an umbrella term for all complications related to follicles/ova/eggs and laying. Dystocic lizards quickly become lethargic and depressed. If your gecko had some kind of problem with her developing eggs then you would notice a drastic change in her behaviour, she would not be roaming around actively.

Keep us posted!

Christina
www.herptiles.net

I'm pretty ignorant of geckos, but if that came out of a snake I would be pretty certain it was an underdeveloped or unfertilized egg (called a slug).