female refuses to use humid hide/lay box...

[brian547]

i have one female leo that refuses to use her lay box. she always seems to lay right when i go to work in the morning. and on top of that- she lays them on the bare tile, right on top of the flex watt area. is there anyway to convince her to use the box? i added another humid hide right over the "hot" area, but she still lays them on the bare ground. it sucks because when i took the three clutches out, they were soo shriveled up and definately had the "bulls eye" neonates in them. any ideas? thanks...

 

[GeckoGathering]

Lay,lady,lay.

i have one female leo that refuses to use her lay box. she always seems to lay right when i go to work in the morning. and on top of that- she lays them on the bare tile, right on top of the flex watt area. is there anyway to convince her to use the box? i added another humid hide right over the "hot" area, but she still lays them on the bare ground. it sucks because when i took the three clutches out, they were soo shriveled up and definately had the "bulls eye" neonates in them. any ideas? thanks...

Hey Brian, what's in the lay box? Put her original
hide over the spot she has been laying in, not an extra one. She has her scent in the original one. Where did you have it? On the cold side?
First year Female? Did you observe the breedings. How many times?
take care. HJ

 

[brian547]

Hey Brian, what's in the lay box? Put her original
hide over the spot she has been laying in, not an extra one. She has her scent in the original one. Where did you have it? On the cold side?
First year Female? Did you observe the breedings. How many times?
take care. HJ

there is moss/bed-a-beast in the hide. the hide is on the cold side, about 85 deg. this girl is a first year. i watched the breeding several times. all my rhacs and other leos use the same material in there boxes, and lay in them fine. i have no clue whats up with her..

 

[DLS Reptile]

85 deg on the cool side?? Sounds like your gecko may be a little stressed. What are your temps on your hot side?? My hot side temps are only 88-90..

 

[GeckoGathering]

Out side the Guide lines.

there is moss/bed-a-beast in the hide. the hide is on the cold side, about 85 deg. this girl is a first year. i watched the breeding several times. all my rhacs and other leos use the same material in there boxes, and lay in them fine. i have no clue whats up with her..

Hey Brian, sounds like her home is without air conditioning 85 cold side? sounds a bit on the wild side......
a breeding comment for what it's worth....after a season of testing
"when is she bred?" ...I came to the conclusion that only when she
says no after a series of matings do I feel, "she feels" she is ready
to lay fertile eggs. Take care. HJ

 

[brian547]

the cool side fluctuates between 81-85 with the outside temperature going up and down dramatically, and i dont use air conditioning in my home until it gets in the mid to late 80's outside. all my tubs are at 92 on the hot spots, i keep it high...noticing that the brighter coolers get/stay brighter with the higher temps, and they aren't showing any signs of stress. all the other 14 leos are fine exhibiting no stress and laying fine, just this one female lays on the hot spot rather than her hide. i just don't know if it is because she is a first year breeder or what.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I noticed last year when we we having problems with all of the toxic mealworms that many of our females refused to lay in their boxes. Most of the eggs were fertile but ended up going bad. This year they're all laying in the boxes again and the eggs are viable. Maybe your female's eggs that wouldn't have hatched anyway. Just because the egg is fertile doesn't mean it will produce a healthy baby. Or maybe she's just a brat and trying to drive you crazy.

 

[snowgyre]

I've suffered this problem A LOT in the past. I don't know if you're keeping your geckos in tanks or racks, but I keep my geckos in racks. In the past I housed females individually in Rubbermaid sweaterboxes, but I kept having my girls lay outside the box.

I switched to a larger container, and started using Rubbermaid blanket boxes. Inside the blanket box I put in a Rubbermaid shoebox filled with about 2" of coco-bedding with about a 1/2" layer of moss on top. I oriented the shoebox sideways so that one side got heat, and the other side was cool. I cut a hole in the top of the shoebox and rested a hide against its side so the geckos could climb up there. Then I took the recalcitrant female or females and put them first into the shoebox so they'd have to figure their own way out.

I now have females laying 100% in the shoebox. I think sometimes it's a matter of size. If the egg laying box isn't big enough, they'll reject it. Also, sometimes inexperienced yearlings seem to 'learn' from the older girls about where to lay.

Hope this helps!

 

[brian547]

I've suffered this problem A LOT in the past. I don't know if you're keeping your geckos in tanks or racks, but I keep my geckos in racks. In the past I housed females individually in Rubbermaid sweaterboxes, but I kept having my girls lay outside the box.

I switched to a larger container, and started using Rubbermaid blanket boxes. Inside the blanket box I put in a Rubbermaid shoebox filled with about 2" of coco-bedding with about a 1/2" layer of moss on top. I oriented the shoebox sideways so that one side got heat, and the other side was cool. I cut a hole in the top of the shoebox and rested a hide against its side so the geckos could climb up there. Then I took the recalcitrant female or females and put them first into the shoebox so they'd have to figure their own way out.

I now have females laying 100% in the shoebox. I think sometimes it's a matter of size. If the egg laying box isn't big enough, they'll reject it. Also, sometimes inexperienced yearlings seem to 'learn' from the older girls about where to lay.

Hope this helps!

thanks snowgyre. the rack she is in holds 28 qt steralite sweater box tubs. the hides i have in it are 6x6x4 deep. she goes in it quite often, but doesnt lay in it. ill try a larger box, and im using a similar lay substrate setup.