Female too young? Help!!

[Octololi]

Just a few days ago I introduced my new female leopard gecko to my male, they get along very nicely. However, the breeders believe the female is AROUND 9 months old, and I believe the male is about 7-8 months. I saw them mating this evening, and while the male clearly has no idea what he's doing (jumping and twitching all over the place, not always on her!) I'm very concerned that this could lead to big problems.

What are the major concequences of a female becoming gravid when she's too young? I know it's not recommended but I could use some more detailed info. Will the eggs simply not be fertile? Could she die or become very sick? I'm very worried here, I don't want my female to suffer because I made a dumb decision I don't want to seperate them, I bought her so they could live together, but if it's the last resort I will. Any advice is very useful to me!

Thankyou!

 

[Pepper]

Age isn't a major factor, weight is, how much does she weigh?

 

[THE WHISPERER]

seperate them! until you know if they are of proper weight and size, and you are ready to incubate eggs and care for babies.

 

[Halley]

How much does she weight? That is the question.

 

[Octololi]

I unfortunately don't have a scale, I'm going to try to pick one up today though. I seperated them late last night because my male wasn't quitting and was chasing her around the tank. She looks just fine this morning, but I'll try to get her weight today.

 

[Octololi]

Okay I finally got a working scale, and found out she is 39 grams. She doesnt appear to have eggs in her, or at least they aren't visible. It's still possible though, so if she did become gravid at this weight, what might happen?

 

[Kristi23]

39 grams is too small. I'm glad you seperated them. Hopefully they didn't breed before that.

 

[Octololi]

She is now 40g, so she seems to be gaining a gram a day. I'm thinking she isn't gravid, but I won't put them together again until she's a good weight

 

[lisa s]

if she is gaining weight this could indicate she is gravid. All you can do is make sure she gets all she can eat and that she has acces to calcium.

 

[Octololi]

I now believe she is gravid, and one egg is visible in her belly. I've made her a lay box and I'm in the process of making an incubator.

The thing I want to know most now though, is will she DIE from laying eggs at this weight? She is now 41grams. Is there a possibility of her dying? Please let me know, I am worried sick. She has access to calcium 24/7 and I'm now hand feeding her 20-30 mealworms a day. Please help me out.

 

[JordanAng420]

There's always a possiblility. Don't stress, there's nothing you can do except what you have been doing. Make sure she eats well, and gets enough calcium. At 41 grams, she SHOULD be okay IMO.

 

[hybrid]

She should be ok. Keep feeding her as much as she will take and give her as much calcium as she wants as well.

Just make sure next time you introduce them...she is at least 50grams. that seems to be the weight most people here use for breeding.

 

[Octololi]

thanks a lot, I'll do my best and hope things work out

 

[ang3l3s]

why do some breeders breed at 45grams???