Egg laying/Gravid behavior??

Hello and thank you for looking. I might need some help.

I have a female leopard gecko that I believe to be either ovulating or gravid. I got her from a gentleman who has bred her earlier this season, but that was about a month ago. She has not since mated with another male, but has seen one (I have one male that she was next to in a separate terrarium. He noticed her and did the tail vibrating, but she wasn't interested). The past 2 weeks I noticed the egg shapes getting larger. They are more obvious now on the sides of her body. She normally has a voracious appetite, but today has declined her food. She is also much more active now, roaming around her cage like she's looking for something. She is in a 40 gallon terrarium with one other female. She has several hides to choose from including a lay box, plenty of warmth as well as a cool side, but she continues to actively walk all over the place. Is she looking for a male?

Here are some photos!

I definitely see one egg, not sure about a second? Sometimes they only lay 1. If she is acting restless, she will probably lay soon. Mine roam around a lot and act like they can't get comfortable a day or so before laying.

staceyleigh said:

I definitely see one egg, not sure about a second? Sometimes they only lay 1. If she is acting restless, she will probably lay soon. Mine roam around a lot and act like they can't get comfortable a day or so before laying.

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It was difficult to get a good pic because she has been a little squirmy. Usually she's very docile. When she is standing you can see them start to bulge a little from her underside near her hips. She's back to sleeping in her hide with her cage mate. For a little while she seemed territorial of one of the hides where before she always cuddled with the other female. Should I separate them? I'm so anxious! The previous owner said she was bred to a super raptor, but produced no eggs. Is it possible for her to have just held Onto the sperm for that long?

Sometimes they reabsorb the eggs. I just took in two new females who started laying fertile eggs from the male they were paired with last season, so yes, they can hold sperm for quite a while! As long as the two females are not aggressive with each other you don't need to separate them. The pictures of her stomach are hard for me to see, it looks quite pink in there, but the above shots look like she is holding eggs and her behavior sounds like pre-laying behavior. She'll likely start digging soon and you'll wake up to a skinny gecko and one or two pearly white eggs. If you want to have them hatch you should set up an incubator ASAP best of luck!

I'm building an incubator now. This is my first time with a pregnant female! I wasn't expecting her to be preggers when I got her, but now that she might be laying fertile eggs I don't want to lose them (or her). I think this might be her first season laying too. Is there any way to tell when she is right about to lay them? I don't want her to get egg-bound. I just ordered supplies 2 days ago and am worried about having everything ready in time for her. It's like a baby is on the way and I'm rushing to deliver it!

Judging from the pictures taken from above I'd say she's a few days from laying but it could be up to a week or even longer if it's her first time. I can't really see the eggs clearly in her belly, but follow this link http://geckoforums.net/f131-leopard-gecko-breeding/56343.htm and look through the pictures people have posted there to better reference how far she is. Please be sure you are dusting all of her feeders with calcium and leaving a dish of calcium without D3 in her enclosure. If the eggs aren't properly calcified she'll have a very hard time passing them and may become egg bound. Also be sure she has a proper lay box with moist moss or cocofiber in it. If there isn't a comfortable place for her to lay, she might hold the eggs. Keep in mind many first time breeders lay a dud clutch their first time, if she does lay infertile eggs don't be discouraged.
Keep us updated on her!

defiantly pregnant and to looks only one if this is her first clutch them they may not be fertile but thats not always true my babys first was fertile but i was not expecting them so they died D; but now you know but be on the look out and set up a lay box

Samantha12 said:

Judging from the pictures taken from above I'd say she's a few days from laying but it could be up to a week or even longer if it's her first time. I can't really see the eggs clearly in her belly, but follow this link http://geckoforums.net/f131-leopard-gecko-breeding/56343.htm and look through the pictures people have posted there to better reference how far she is. Please be sure you are dusting all of her feeders with calcium and leaving a dish of calcium without D3 in her enclosure. If the eggs aren't properly calcified she'll have a very hard time passing them and may become egg bound. Also be sure she has a proper lay box with moist moss or cocofiber in it. If there isn't a comfortable place for her to lay, she might hold the eggs. Keep in mind many first time breeders lay a dud clutch their first time, if she does lay infertile eggs don't be discouraged.
Keep us updated on her!

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It's been a few more days and she is DEFINITELY gravid. When I look at her from the side her belly touches the ground! I gently felt her sides for the eggs and I could tell that one of them was harder than the other, but there are two in there. I also noticed her tail seems to have shrunk. Thankfully her appetite is back and she ate ravenously tonight. I have provided her with calcium and have been dusting her food with it in combination with a vitamin powder. She doesn't seem to be interested in the lay box though, more so just walking around right now. The incubator supplies are on the way, but I'm more worried about my female being ok.

She's also drinking a lot more water than usual. Is this normall?

I did a complete observation/write-up of my female's behavior all the way from mating to egg laying. It is currently (today) about 5 posts below this post in the "breeding" section. Browse or search the forums, and you will find all the details answers to all the questions that have already been asked before. If you ask a question that has been answered before (many times), you usually get the "short answer".

My full observation/write-up: http://geckoforums.net/f131-leopard-gecko-breeding/99260.htm

tb144050 said:

I did a complete observation/write-up of my female's behavior all the way from mating to egg laying. It is currently (today) about 5 posts below this post in the "breeding" section. Browse or search the forums, and you will find all the details answers to all the questions that have already been asked before. If you ask a question that has been answered before (many times), you usually get the "short answer".

My full observation/write-up: http://geckoforums.net/f131-leopard-gecko-breeding/99260.htm

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Thank you! I have been following that thread and reading up on it. I have been concerned because I didn't witness the breeding and don't know how far along she is. She was bred before I got her and she wasn't gravid (or not that I could tell). I've had her for a month and it looks like she could lay any day now. I wasn't expecting this and got really anxious/excited. She has everything she needs now I guess I just wait. lol

Any update?

Samantha12 said:

Any update?

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Today I tried to get a photo of her, but she was uncooperative so I didn't bother to stress her. I do have photos from a couple days ago (which I will upload once they get to dropbox) and it looks like she is ready to lay any day now. I can see the big red vein in the middle of her belly and the eggs are more obvious. She just had a very clean shed and ate it. She has refused food completely the past 2 days. Before then she would eat 1 mealworm a day for a couple of days. I have not noticed any digging behavior and she has gone into the laybox only once. There seems to be some slightly restless behavior of her exploring her cage rather hastily in the evenings for about 15-20 minutes, but besides that she stays in her warm hide and rests. She has been drinking a lot more water than usual lately (which also has calcium in it).

I am a little concerned for her because when I got her she was already "skinny from breeding". She's put on a little weight since I've had her, but I do worry about the eggs taking a toll on her body. I've been giving her calcium since she won't go for it herself by putting it on her nose and letting her lick it off. I have noticed what seems to be the start of a calcium deficiency with her jaw not closing completely and sometimes her back feet will not be sturdy and sort of bend back. I am just starting to notice these symptoms. I know those are huge red flags and i have been doing everything to make sure she's getting enough calcium. I feel like she got a rough start before I had a chance to intervene. I work from home so I've been babying her, but not in the sense that I'm stressing her out with attention, just doing everything I can to help her. She has the tank to herself, plenty of room, hides, appropriate temperature, calcium, gut-loaded calci-worms and mealworms (with Repashy bug burger). She gets her feeders dusted every other feeding with Calcium+D3.

These were taken 2 days ago:




The last image looks kind of weird, but I promise I'm not putting any pressure on her head or neck. I'm barely touching her with my thumb and supporting her with my back fingers and other hand. lol

I a young female who is doing all the same thing, climbing, searching etc. I hope you update us when she lays! My girl is 1 of 2 who are both my first geckos ever. She is too young to breed so these will be sterile.

Happy to have come across this thread, as one of my girls is acting more restless and moving quite often between her moist hide and warm hide, crawling on top of everything far more often. Currently she is housed with another female.

I have not seen her digging, and she is very young to boot. When she was brought home she'd always looked a little chunky around the middle, and lately it shows even more. Know for a fact she was housed with a sexually mature male, and she has only been with me for about a month now.

Not sure if I should try to build some sort of incubator, or discard any eggs she might end up laying.

Normal Gravid female behavior?

This is my daughters new baby, Tangerine. We got her about a month ago. The first 2 photos are from 2 weeks ago and the 3rd one is from yesterday. She had started out good. Eating very well and adjusting well to the move. Then she just stopped eating. I asked the breeder why this would happen and he said she could be gravid which does happen from time to time. Real shocker! I did not think that would be what was going on. I took these photos then to be confirmed by the breeder. Since then she has shed and has only eaten a cricket here and there. She won't eat anything else, yet. I give her calcium to eat, which she does eat, and provided a lay box. She has been laying/ sleeping all over her cage in the open, and not in her hides just like in photo 3. She walks around fine, no problems with her legs. Her temps range from 85 - 90 in her dry hide, about 80 - 82 in her lay box and about 76-79 on the cool side. All measured at the substrate by a digital therm. with probe. She seems uncomfortable, but still loves us watching her and talking to her. She will come right to the glass. We haven't taken her out too much, but will put our hands in often and she will crawl right into our hands and stay there. I am concerned for her. She is noticeably heavier in the middle and not moving quite as much lately. I have an incubator all set up waiting for the eggs. How long should it take?