Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Details first, question at the end.

Okay, I have two leopard geckos.
One female. Unknown age; she was a rescue.
One male.
Caged separately.
Cages are side by side.
Both are adults.
Both are in glass aquariums.
Lighting is UVA/UVB 24/7 and a spotlight on one end during the day.
Humidity on the cool end of the cage is slightly higher than on the warm end, as that's where the water dish and hidebox is.

Warm end of the cage is about 85 during the day, 80 at night.
Cool end is 75-78 during the day and around 70 at night.

The female, in the past few months, has started (and not stopped) a course of fairly regular egg laying.
When she lays, she lays between one and three eggs.
She's been doing this on a bi-weekly basis since February now.

It's easy to tell when she's getting ready to lay again, as her tail gets skinner and her middle gets fatter. She also gets somewhat crabby.
I always find the eggs crushed, and don't expect or want them to be fertile.
She's not really suitable for breeding in my opinion; pet store gecko, unknown lineage. Good temperement but that's about it.

Her diet consists of dusted and gutloaded:
Mealworms
Crickets
Silkworms
Butterworms
Superworms
The occasional waxworm.
She's also been known to take a pinkie mouse, so long as it's warm and wiggling (either me wiggling it, or it being alive).

She also has a bowl of calcium dust available to her at all times, as well as a bowl of fresh water that's changed 2x daily.

Hopefully that's enough background info for someone to answer the question. ^_^

Now, the question:

How do I get her to stop laying eggs?!

It's fairly unnerving, as everything I've read so far says that single females aren't prone to egg laying.

Her cage is side by side with the male's cage; they're both in glass aquariums.
Would maybe moving her out of his sight help?
Or, am I projecting what I know of birds (even the presence of a bird of the opposite sex or a 'mate' can trigger laying in hens) onto lizards?

Is there something I should be removing from or adding to her diet until this is under control?

i have a female which has never been with a male. i dont think she has ever even seen one and has laid three infertile clutches for me so far. nothing you can do to her diet and moving the male wont help. she is just sexually mature and her body thinks she is ready to breed (whether you think so or not) I honestly do not know how many clutches she will lay but just ignore her infertile eggs and treat her just as you would anyone else and feed her just the same.robin
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-robin day
Geckoheads And Geeks

*whew*

So long as it's normal for a single female to lay, I'm fine with it.

Should her eggs be so soft that they crush? Or is it possible she's breaking them and/or eating them.
I've only ever found empty shells.

I'm a bit overly paranoid from my birds, where it is technically normal, but there's a higher risk of eggbinding and softshelled eggs; having three hens I go nuts every time one of them starts laying, as it tends to trigger the others.

from my experience with the female i have right now. all eggs were infertile and basically hollow and would cave in or cruch very easily. i have talked to a few people and they told me the advice i gave to you. from my understanding she will lay just as a normal gravid female would and just as long just her eggs are infertile.good luck
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-robin day
Geckoheads And Geeks

Just one comment- compliment-

You sre seriously the only person who I've ever seen who layed down the whole scenario before asking a question. Makes almost every question of this type so much easier to answer. But I guess Robin got ya covered, I'd be of no help anyways.
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-|.... -Kris ....|-

..........You know you're sick..........
....................When your Leo collection..........
.............................Is worth more than your car..........

...... Kris' Crosses will be Kings .....

Heh, I post on a few other pet sites, am a moderator on one and an admin on a bird board; if there's one thing that drives me INSANE it's users who ask a question but give no details...then you have to coax details out of them before a good answer can be given..heh, BEYOND frustrating.

I suppose I'll just keep a close eye on my girl and get her to the vet if she shows any signs of trouble.
I've never actually seen her lay, I've just found the crushed eggs during cleanings or feedings.