First time breeder struggles?

[ghiigh33]

It has been exactly 3 weeks to date from when I first bred my female for her first time. For the past 5 days her belly has looked like it does in the picture in the sticky thread at the top of the page where the gecko should lay in "a couple of days". Since wednesday she has been digging all her peat moss to the front of her hide and ha nearly none in the back and she sits there all the time. I even see her curling her tail up and looking like she is squatting to lay. But I'm nervous as to why she hasn'tlayed yet she looks like she ha been ready to pop for 5 days now and on her 3rd day of digging. She is a first timer, and today when i picked her up and checked her belly the eggs looked to be a bit less clear. Could she be reabsorbing these eggs that were ready to come out? Is that even possible? And is it bad for me to handle her during this period as long as i am gentle and careful?
Someone please respond I'm pretty nervous.

 

[acpart]

The hardest part of breeding is waiting. It can be excruciating. Try to relax and let nature take its course. Sometimes it takes the first timers a long time. Good luck and try to enjoy the process. Yes, you can handle her gently even if she's about to lay.

Aliza

 

[ghiigh33]

Thank you Aliza, I am just a bit worried since this is y first time breeding and she seems to be stuck in the "about to lay any second" period and I am just a bit confused. Is it common/possible for them to extend that about to lay period and what might be the causes of this? I have been trying very hard to keep as stress free of an environment as possible.

 

[The Gecko Person]

Three weeks isn't a very long time. She should lay them any day. Sometimes, the temperature being too low could cause the eggs to form slower, but it wouldn't affect the time it takes for her to lay them once they are formed.

 

[Home Grown Gecko]

3 weeks is fine, I have had females that are laying for the first time go 6 weeks. So just keep the stress down and play the waiting game. Good luck!

 

[ghiigh33]

Thanks for the help guys. right now she is laying at the end of the laying box sitting in the hole she dug.

 

[ghiigh33]

I apoogize if this sounds stupid, but she still has not layed yet she is identical to he picture of the "laying in a couple of days" gecko in the ovulation vs gravid sticky. Is it a bad sign that she has been i this stage for about a week?

 

[The Gecko Person]

How long has it been now? Try feeling the eggs through her skin. If they are hard, she is probably egg bound. Check the amount of moisture in the substrate.

 

[ghiigh33]

It has been 3 weeks and 3 days but she has looked ready to go for just over a week. Her substrate ins't too moist, should i make it more wet? Trust me she is egg bound, ill try and get up s pic.

 

[ghiigh33]

here we go:

 

[ghiigh33]

And yes the eggs are hard and I just re moisturized her box

 

[The Gecko Person]

Do the eggs feel like rocks inside her? Try soaking her in 3/4 inch of warm water. If they don't pass, and still feel hard inside her, take her to the vet.

 

[ghiigh33]

they don't feel like rocks but they aren'tswuishy either. She still hasn't layed. So you think this i abnormal now? I'll try the warm water.

 

[ghiigh33]

Finally! I came home to her with her two eggs today! I saw them and they were layed in her paper towel moist hide not her lay box so at first I thought that they have to be infertile because everyhting I have read says they would be if they aren't in the box buried in the substrate. They were stuck to the side so I used lukewarm water and over an agonizing 5 minutes of gentle work, I freed one of them. The other came off easily. But here are some pics, I candled them each and in each one saw a big bright red bullseye. That means they are ertile right? What do you guys say?

 

[ghiigh33]

Oh and by the way they are now in my incubators, one at 86 for hopesof a male and one at 82 for a female. They are in perlite, I used albeys method and bought a digital scale, I used 1 part perlite to .8 part water just like I wassupposed to. It still feels relatively dry though, but I know its right because of the scale and the quality selaed containers. As you can see, she dropped a little weight in the tip of her tail, so I loaded her up on more superworms and crickets and now I am hoping she will eat. I dusted her food too.

 

[The Gecko Person]

They look fertile. You should be able to tell within a few weeks. I don't measure the amount of water in the mixture, I just add water if the eggs indent too much. It is better for it to be too dry.

 

[ghiigh33]

Ok thanks for the advice David it really helped me out. Is there anything I should do to ensure that she starts eating a lot now, or should I just let her do her thing? She's got a dish full of supers and a couple crickets running around her 40 gal. I'm just a bit worried now because before I bred her her tail was unbelievably huge. Now its a bit skinny in the endas you can see.

 

[BrightReptiles]

She still looks plenty healthy. Let her do her thing, monitor her weight and make sure he doesn't lose too much weight, but everything looks good to me.

 

[The Gecko Person]

I would just leave food available to her. Sometimes their tails look 'deflated' right after they lay eggs, but it will be back to normal in a few days.

 

[ghiigh33]

Thanks guys, I believe she ate a few supers over the night.