Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard of it being possible in other lizards before... but in leos?

I have a large female...she's been previously bred. Layed aquite a few eggs for me in her 2 seasons as a breeder. But now she has what looks to be hemipenile bulges.

I brought her in to a vet for a check up as well and pointed the two offending bumps out. Palpatation of the vent everted what even looked to be a hemipenis.

I'm keeping a close eye on her for the moment. But she's acting fine.

Any ideas?

Your herp vet doesn´t have a clue. Leos can´t change sex. And those bulges you´ve mentioned doesn´t have anything to do with gender determination.
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4.7.7 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 AFT
0.2.0 Homonota Darwinii (Talus & Gracilis)
0.0.1 Hemidactylus Turcicus
0.0.1 Tarentola Mauritanica (Pickles)
0.1.0 Cham Caliptratus (Clotilde)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever (Cafu)
1.0.0 Black cat (Felipe)
0.0.2 Acanthoscurria Musculosa
0.0.5 Eupalestrus Campestratus
0.0.1 Gramostola Rosea
16 Hatched(Leopard Geckos)

from what i understand, sex changes can only occur in juveniles. it happens to keep the male to female ration in check but im not sure if leos do that. If your leo was housed alone it is very unlikely. and the way you described it, your leo is an adult so even more unlikely.
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1.1 Western Painted Turtle (Mougly, Scooter)
1.1 Albino Leopard Gecko (Daphne, Guy)
1.0 High Yellow Leopard Gecko (Sunshine)
1.1 HTCT Leopard Gecko (Rocket, Dot)
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko (Tequila)

She's actually my largest and most dominant female and was regularly housed with 2 other females.
Since I've noticed this tho she's been isolated so I can keep an eye on her.

leos do not change sex. Don't worry about bulges my female has always them them. Check prefemoral pores right before the vent if they are large and dark its a male if light and small female.

Actually, a sex change can in theory happen to any species, including humans, and this wouldn't be the first time I've heard of a leo changing sexes. Years ago someone who used to post on this forum had a post similar to this, with pictures as well. I think it might have even been Kelli H, but I'm not positive on that.

Basically, it's not impossible for a gecko to change sexes, but extremely rare, and I wouldn't consider it confirmed until the gecko in question bred. Just remember, "life will find a way."

The gender of a leopard gecko is determined by temperature; this has been illustrated many times by many breeders. There are not that many animals on this planet that have a plastic gender; the ones that can are usually critters like fish, insects, and worms. Humans do not have a variable gender, it is chromosomally determined and irreversible for the purposes if reproduction.
As for what was everted from your female, I believe it may have been the hemi-clitores, the female answer to the hemi-penes. This occurs in blue-tongue skinks, I don't see why the same couldn't be true in leos. I do not believe in the least that your leo changed genders.
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0.2 Leopard Geckos (Fire and Mello)
0.0.1 Blue Tongue Skink (Smoot)

I'd like to see a textbook that shows how humans can change gender after birth...

Some species in this world carry chromosomes for both sexes their whole lives and can change, humans are NOT one of them.

Just for the sake of science, I think the leo issues have already been well covered.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I just had to second this post- I also recall a couple years ago a poster here who had a leo who seemed to switch sexes, started to show bulges and enlarged pores as well, if memory serves. I think it may have been bred to a female as well, but w/o offspring. I also had a female begin to exhibit male mating behavior. She was also housed with two smaller females, and it was the largest of the 3 that started trying to mate with the other two (one more so than the other), and I also had to seperate them before someone got hurt. She did have very slghtly enlarged pores, but no wax, and no bulges. I have not heard of any female to male changes that produced offspring, but I do believe GENDER switches occur, though very rarely. A SEX switch maybe not. (There is a difference). Cant say I've ever heard of a male to female switch. As for your vet inverting what looked like a hemipenis, I'd suggest a second opinion before making any conclusions. How old is this leo? I have have a couple juvis that appeared female up until a year old or so, then became obvious males seemingly overnight.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (Lucy?)
0.1 Tremper stripe from JMG (Delta)
0.1 SHCT hatched by me! (Blinky)
0.0.1 SHCTB hatched by me! (Sunny II)
0.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
Hatched: ~50 leos