Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I recently got a pair of adult leopards, and she was gravid when I got her. I don't have any experience with breeding, so I'm not sure if everything that is happening to her is normal... I'm hoping someone can answer my questions...

First question, how long will she be in "labor"? (Her water broke about 36 hours ago, and she's been hanging out in her laying chamber, digging like mad ever since, but still no eggs...). She's been quite active, digging and pacing around in the enclosure, but I can tell she's starting to get tired...

She hasn't eaten in 2-3 days... is this normal? The male hasn't eaten either... could he be stressed watching her? Should I separate them while this is going on?

Is there anything I can do to make this quicker or easier on her? She has plenty of water, a calcium dish, proper heat, a laying chamber with moist peat moss, a dish of worms (not touched)... what else can I give her or do for her?

If anyone out there can describe their experience with this situation, it would be greatly helpful... I've found lots of info on incubating the eggs and caring for hatchlings, but nothing about what to expect during the actual egg-laying process... if there's a problem I would take her to a vet asap, but I don't know what's normal and what's not... please help?

Thanks so much....

Hi.

Everything sounds fine.

What do you mean by "her water broke?" I've been breeding leos for 3 years and have never seen that. Are you sure you aren't confusing it with the liquid that comes out when they go to the bathroom? A bathroom session will usually include white urates, brown / black poop and the whole mess shoots out with a glob of clear goo.

I would say that she's still a few days away from laying.

A gravid female can and will go a week or more without eating ... they simply don't have any room for food. Also, I have seen digging activity up to several weeks before they lay. In my mind, I refer to it as "practice" though its most likely simply just an instinct to dig a burrow. She'll keep digging and re-digging until she lays.

The best thing you can do for her is leave her alone. Check for eggs once or twice (max) per day and keep water and food bowls full and fresh. Ensure laying medium is moist but not wet.

Once she lays, feed her as much as she'll eat.

I think you're suffering from ONGP ... overly-nervous-gecko-parent ... we're all been there!

Good luck,
Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos

hey thanks for the help! )

I thought her water broke the other night. Here's what happened: she stood up on her hind legs and propped herself right up against the corner of the glass enclosure. She proceeded to make a motion that a lizard would make if they were trying to escape (like trying to run up the corner, with fingers and toes sliding on the glass), except it was slow and deliberate... like she was jogging in place, but very slowly... I'd never seen her do that before, so I watched intently... she didn't seem the least bit distressed, but she continued for about 2 hrs... then a small pool of clear liquid the size of a dime came out of her onto a leaf (which disappeared completely once it dried, very different than her usual excretement, so I assumed it must have been water)... upon doing that, she calmed right down, and I haven't seen her doing the corner jog maneuver since...

So they don't break water at the beginning of labor?? hmmmm strange... but you are absolutely right, I am suffering from ONGP syndrome... hahaha

Regarding the water breaking ...

I don't know enough about the biology of leos to say for sure whether or not it occurs, however I've hatched out over 80 baby leos and never came across any evidence of water breaking.

(Last year alone I had 4 laying albino females and 2 normals ... Got around 40 eggs from the albinos and another 20 or so from the normals ... way too many babies and way too many eggs! I had to trim the collection this year.)

Keep waitin ... you'll have eggs in no time. Then you have to worry about incubation!

Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos