change in sex?

[latshki]

lately my once female leo has been showing signs that she is no longer a female

it first started with her gaining about 10 grams in 2 weeks
she is also much more curious and seems to be almost dominating her very girly sister
she
she has a different reaction when she meets my male who is in every way male
but the most obvious one is the two bulges that are equal in size to my males

I have heard of certain animals changing sexes but never heard of it in leos and especially at this age of 14 months
she was most certainly a female as she ovulated when I first got her in may

so either she is changing or its just me
I would post pics but my point and shoot is to blurry

 

[fikken]

i haven't heard of leos changing sex either. I do now that in the absence of a male females will take their place socially and dominate other females to fill the male roll. is the female in a tank without a male and with all females? I had a hen that did this when we removed our rooster. She even tried mounting other hens in the attempt to fake mate and show dominance. Its not uncommon that this may happen when many females of alot of types of animals are kept together

 

[lillith]

Maybe "she" was incubated as a cool male and didn't sexually mature until now?

14 months old is a little bit for late blooming, but it's possible, methinks.

 

[latshki]

but she ovulated thats the weird part for me

 

[fikken]

have you looked up close with a light at the area above the vent (bumhole) for pre anal pore and have you looked for a hemipenial artery or hemipenis?

 

[latshki]

I have not yet done a thorough exam as she gets very stressed after a few minutes

 

[fikken]

I think then once she is more comfortable a check would be good just to know

 

[mariex4]

has he/she got lumps near the base of the tail a pic would be good

 

[Haligren]

I can't remember where but I recall hearing about a study that was done back in the 90s regarding population control. Apparently leopard geckos have been known to change their sex but it's always female to male and never male to female. This change is presumably to address a shortage of males so that the species can continue.

 

[GeckoTrouble]

My slow leopard gecko Faraz was malnourished and underdeveloped when I got him at 9 months old... both myself and the vet swore he was female for the first 6 months... but once he gained weight and developed he was definitely a male

 

[latshki]

Im almost positive shes a male but she does not react badly when with my proven male??? it so odd

 

[Khrysty]

That IS strange. Sometimes bigger females can have bulges just like males do, though. One of my females, Akira, has some pretty defined bulges. She's definitely female, though. No pores, and she laid eggs last season. Perhaps she's just a girl with a little extra junk in her trunk? lol

It would really help if you could get us some pictures

 

[latshki]

I AM FREAKED OUT
she now has pores she is now a male for sure!!!
this is so odd
I have no doubt that she is male now but she never had pores before


crazy
i wish I had pictures of her from a few months ago that showed her vent

 

[Riyo]

I am skeptical about this, to be honest (I am not saying you're making this up by any means so don't take it that way!)

Some females I own (Who are DEFINITELY female) have very defined, dimpled scales that make a V shape, very much like the males. The only difference is, is that the pores are not open and not producing that waxy stuff. If "She" starts producing this waxy substance then "she" is definitely a male.

Here's some pictures of what I'm talking about:

Here's Loki. Loki is a mature male and producing wax from open pores.

Here's Muse. Muse is a mature female. She has what could possibly be mistaken for pores but they're only dimpled scales in the same V shape.

Also notice the difference in head shape. Males have a thick neck and throat area and a broad head while females usually have slimmer necks and smaller heads.

I hope this helps!

 

[latshki]

those are the changes that have happened
her neck and head got more fat, she got bigger bulges at the base of her tail and today I noticed grey pores above the vent JUST like in your post
she has ovulated for me when I first got her and since august I have noticed these changes
I will try to get pictures but my camera is not the best

 

[latshki]

here is an old pic from when I first got her right before she ovulated and my male tried to copulate but I seperated them before that
she is the more spotted one

 

[serialzombie]

I can't remember where but I recall hearing about a study that was done back in the 90s regarding population control. Apparently leopard geckos have been known to change their sex but it's always female to male and never male to female. This change is presumably to address a shortage of males so that the species can continue.

Intriguing. I hope I can find the article.

Do you remember if it was specifically in regards to leopard geckos, or just geckos in general?

To the original poster: I would be very excited if I was as sure as you were that one of my geckos had inverted its sex.

 

[baseball2k26]

This would be very interesting. Would anyone recommend putting two females plus this male/female in a cage together and seeing if eggs are produced and fertilized?

 

[JordanAng420]

This would be very interesting. Would anyone recommend putting two females plus this male/female in a cage together and seeing if eggs are produced and fertilized?

You could try that to see if you can get FERTILE eggs, but the thing is leopard geckos are capable of laying eggs without copulation from a male.

 

[JordanAng420]

I think there's a way to evert the hemipenes in leopard geckos. I've seen my boss do it a few times, but the leos run a big risk of dropping their tails.