Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted about the gecko with the mysterious illness. She's *not* sick. She's pregnant. I took her to a dealer who specializes in lizards, and he didn't even look at her for too long before deciding she was pregnant.

I seperated her from her mate, and currently have her in a large plastic bin with a big shallow pool for her to dip in (warmed with a bottom heater. The stores near me stopped selling vermiculite, a famed soil for laying eggs. Instead, I had to settle for pete moss (which I was told was just as good). The entire tank is being heated to stimulate her egg laying, and I hope she lays her eggs soon.

But she's still not eating. It's not good for her, or for her eggs. I switched her from crickets to meal worms, but she shows no interest. I left them in a small bowl with some calcium powder, hoping she takes an interest. One can only hope. :/

How old / big is your girl? Some females, especially those that are bred young or at a small size, will lose their appetite as the eggs get bigger. Your girl still needs to thermoregulate. You should have a tank set up with both a cool and a warm side and the moist substrate should be restricted to the lay box. I assume that you've already got a dish of phospherus free calcium for her to consume at will. Heating the whole tank will not accelerate laying.

If the fasting continues, she starts losing weight and doesn't lay you will have to deal with the possibility that she is egg bound.

-Alice

She is nine years old - There's a cool side, but most of it is warm. The breeder recommened that I put her in a warm climate to induce egg laying. He actually said to put her in warm water, but I didn't want her to lay the eggs in the water itself.

It sounds like she's definately old enough. A lot of my females fast for a couple of weeks just before they lay. I wouldn't subject her to soaks. That just seems unnessisarily stressful. There really is no way to rush her; she'll lay when she's ready.

-Alice

Well the problem is that she *has* been fasting. Four weeks now. She has *never* been without food for more than seven days. I'm not interested in her being a mother if it forefits her health. Her eggs, most likely, will not be healthy as it is. She hasn't eaten, or taken interest in the calcium. She actually seems to enjoy the warmth. It might be a little soothing for her swollen stomach. She climbs into the bath of her own free will, that's why I left it in the tank.

After reading the posts you made in the below thread, I cannot believe that you are asking for help with you "preganent" leo!!!! I hope to *** you don't get babies, what would you do then?????
Robin

Oh gee, what an intelligent post. First off, I'm not concerned with her having babies - I'm more concerned with her health since she's been refusing food for four weeks. I was told to feed my small gecko a certain way because he's in hybernation, when he shows more of an interest in food, I will up his intake. If my gecko has babies that survive, I'm just going to give them to the local pet store.

Sorry for being human and listening to people who I thought knew what they were talking about. And maybe next time you should offer someone advice before flaming them.

Sorry, but a lot of "local breeders" often are only in it for the money and will give you misleading information. I've had to deal with it with two of my three lizards. The thing is you just have to know what's right and what's wrong, by doing tons of research, outside of just talking to a "local breeder".

Also, I'm very new at leos, but brumating at 4 monthes? That doesn't seem right. I know more about beardies than leos (I know, they're entirely different animals), and I know that beardies almost never start brumating until they are at least a year old. The term for hibernation with reptiles is brumation by the way.

I would get that pregnant female to a GOOD herp vet NOW. She's obviously not going to be able to lay the eggs and be healthy afterwards, and the eggs will probably not make it either. It seems as though she's probably egg bound.

Oh! No no no. My pregnant female is 9 years old. The small gecko I have (that everyone is attacking me over) is four months. How long do geckos stay pregnant for?

Just curious...

Was the vet who told you she was gravid (pregnant) experienced with leos? Did he lift her up and look at her belly? Has she lost any weight / girth in her tail or body since she started fasting?

I ask because, many adult females will develop large abdominal fat deposits which can be mistaken for developing eggs by someone without much leo experience. Is there any way you could post a pic of her underside?

-Alice

The vet was two hours away, and didn't have any appointments open for a while. Yesterday was a mild day, so I took her over to a breeder who specializes in lizards. He was holding her, and he turned her over and touched her stomach. She was trying to fight him the whole time, so he said that it wasn't that she was sick, and it appeared to be eggs to him. She lost a lot of weight in her tail. It's very thin, and the skin is wrinkled where the portions of her fat used to be. I can't upload the picture to any website, so maybe I can e-mail you the picture instead?

I'd be willing to host the pic on our website under a seperate folder. If you want, just e-mail it to me and I'll e-mail you back a link to it. I have like 850 MB of unused space anyway.
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

If she's not eating and her tail fat supplies are diminishing...AND she may be pregnant, something is going wrong, and I would get her to a good vet as soon as the next appointment opens up. Until then I'm sure someone on here can give you some advice on how to keep her alive until then.

If she's lost that much weight, she's probably egg bound; for whatever reason, she can't lay her eggs. Usually the eggs need to be surgically removed, although I've heard that some have been helped with injections of pitocin (sp?) to induce labor. If she is egg bound, the prognosis is grim without intervention.
-Alice

Hibernation actually refers to the passing of winter in a torpidor resting state which involves loss of motion and slowing down of heart rate, digestive funtions etc. for the entire winter. Which by the way there is no "winter" in leos native habitat in Pakaistan

Brumation is more of just slowing down of activity based on a lower temp, and an increase in temp will cause activity to increase as well
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Cheryl