Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some options, as a friend of mine has a leopard gecko female that is between 8-10 years old that has a problem with retaining eggs. It was stupid on his part since she is old and shouldn't have been allowed to become pregnant, but since he has lack of space had a male in with her. He doesn't have $$$ as I told him to take her to the vet as his best option. I heard of people "massaging" the eggs out, which I'm sure will ruin her reproductive tract and could be dangerous. I also heard of taking a syringe and draining the fluid from the eggs in her belly so that she can pass the eggs easier(which i think could be real shady). I wouldn't recommend any of the latter two methods, but if anyone has had success with any of them please let me know. She hasn't eaten in 2-3 weeks so there's gotta be a problem. Any help would be awesome, without help, I hate to say that she won't make it. Thanks in advance.
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1.4.10 leopard gecko
2.3.0 nephrurus levis levis
1.1.0 nephrurus wheeleri cinctus
1.1.0 nephrurus amyae
1.1.0 pastel ball python
1.0.0 gargoyle gecko

Draining the eggs? I'd also like any information on this. Wouldn't you be poking a hole through her internal organs?

well i imagine he means stick a syringe up the poor geckos vent not through its skin. anyhow 2-3 weeks isnt that long. make sure the gecko first of all has a moist law box. you can use moist loose cocoa fiber for this or vermiculite. they like it moist warm and dark, they also like to dig! if she hasnt started digging yet she may not be ready to lay her eggs. once females get pregnant they eat really alot for like a week or 2 and then they stop for around 3 weeks more or less. the time all depends on the gecko. how big is the gecko? do you know how many grams? if the gecko is above 55 grams you hopefully wont have a problem. if the gecko is under 50 you may indeed have a problem because the gecko may have never gotten big enough to pass eggs however small geckos can lay eggs but it is a little scary. anyhow i would wait a little longer and make sure there is a lay box. maybe you can try to post a few pics of the gecko and the under side of her belly for us all to see befor you get to scared. this will make it easier to determine if there is a problem (pics must be clear otherwise you cant tell). if you are very wooried about the fact that it is not eating you can hand feed her a few drops of water by putting them on her nose and waiting for her to lick them off (once a day). it will at least keep her from becoming dehydrated.
anyhow you should tell your friend leos should not be kept in a cage with a 1 female to 1 male ratio. the male could very possbly stress the female to death by constantly trying to breed with her. besides do you really think they share those tiny caves together in thw wild? hehe. anyhow good luck. if it does end up being egg retention the vet is pretty much the only garuanteed option. however it needs to be a vet whom works on reptiles. one of my geckos had to get her ovaries removed and it was only $200. but that was after the exam which is like 50-80 dollars. that was a picture almost a week after surgery but you can hardly even see her scar now, her vet did a great job. this was in Yorba Linda CA incase you live anywhere nearby.