help!!!

[fcap86]

Hi, i just got my first leopard gecko a few days ago not knowing she was a female and not knowing she was pregnant! i just got home from work and there is one huge egg next to her water bowl and i can tell shes struggling to push out another one now. i have no idea what to do! i dont have anything set up for the eggs to go in. what do i do!!!?

 

[fcap86]

help please unexpected egg

hello i posted this in the breeding forum but im not getting a reply.

i just got my first leopard gecko a few days ago not knowing she was a female and not knowing she was pregnant! i just got home from work and there is one huge egg next to her water bowl and i can tell shes struggling to push out another one now. i have no idea what to do! i dont have anything set up for the eggs to go in. what do i do!!!?

 

[acpart]

THree choices, as I see it:

--dump these eggs and prepare for the next 2 in about 2 weeks (see below)

--find someone in your area (if you list it here, maybe someone on the forums will come forward) who has an incubator set up and could incubate these eggs for you. That would give you time to prepare, if that's what you want to do, or maybe they'd agree to incubate all the eggs (I did that for someone last season and I'm doing it for someone else this season)

-- try to incubate them yourself. I'm not going to go into the whole thing, but will point you in the right direction to find out what to do:
a. go to the list of "site sponsors" above on this page, click on "Albey's too cool reptiles" and go to his "incubation" section which describes how to set up the container for the eggs
b. you will need to find a place where the temperature is steady, with no more than a 2 degree variation somewhere between about 80 and 88 degrees. The simplest way this is usually done is with an incubator. Most beginners use a hobovator (google to purchase; best price probably at lllreptile.com) but if there is a place near you that sells bird/chick incubators you can get one of those. Some people on here have built their own (google for instructions) or have found a place in their homes where the temperature criteria are met. In any case, if you don't do something within the next 24 hours, it's probably a moot point.

For now, you could put the eggs in a container on the hot side of the cage. Don't turn the eggs and it's best to take a sharpie and mark which side is up in case they get turned by accident (the bird incubator instructions will tell you to turn the eggs regularly; ignore this for reptiles).

Provide a lay box for your female's next eggs: get a gladware or tupperware plastic container with a lid. Fill it 3/4 full with moist coco fiber, vermiculite or sphagnum moss (I prefer coco fiber) and cut a hole in the top of the lid so she can get in.

Read the breeding section of a leopard gecko book if you have one. Google "leopard gecko breeding" and you'll find some good instruction sheets.

Good luck.

Aliza

 

[Baoh]

Hmmm. If you have absolutely nothing, I guess you could put some moist, but not wet, dirt in a gladware container, put the eggs in that, close the lid, and set it on top of a fridge or some appliance that gives off some heat all day and night. I hesitate to even suggest this because I know, what with the internet and all, that somebody will plop those babies on a radiator or something. Or a tall shelf in a closet in a warm room. Still, these are very far from anything close to ideal, but if you have nothing....

 

[fcap86]

thank you! I just bought some moss and have the egg (she ended up only laying one) in a small tuperware in the cage with her.

they always lay more then one clutch? is there anyway to tell if this one is infertile?

 

[fcap86]

thank you for your reply! i have the egg in a small tuperware with some moist moss. i have it in the cage now but i think i will move it to the top of the fridge and hope for the best.
thank you!

 

[acpart]

check your other post in the breeding forum. I posted a pretty extensive reply there.

Aliza

 

[Baoh]

To add, I must disagree with the suggestion to place the container on the *hot* side of the cage. The cool side, sure, but not the hot side. The hot side is likely anywhere from 92ish to 97ish degrees F and that seems like a great way to drive the embryos into a state of hyperthermia and death. I like the "cool" side over my previous suggestion, though. Far more stable.

 

[BalloonzForU]

My concern is did she lay a second egg? Or is it stuck/eggbound inside her? You had mentioned that she was pushing another one, but mentioned only one egg in your above post.

 

[fcap86]

she never laid another egg. i think i mistook her scratching with her hind legs to bury the egg as her pushing another one out. Also, today when i looked at the egg it pretty much collapsed in on itself could it have been infertile?

 

[acpart]

To add, I must disagree with the suggestion to place the container on the *hot* side of the cage. The cool side, sure, but not the hot side. The hot side is likely anywhere from 92ish to 97ish degrees F and that seems like a great way to drive the embryos into a state of hyperthermia and death. I like the "cool" side over my previous suggestion, though. Far more stable.

My main reason for suggesting it was that I figured that the warm side with (hopefully) a tile substrate, with the lay box on top of that and with the coco fiber around the eggs (maybe I'm presuming too much about the set-up) should keep the eggs at a reasonable temperature. If I'm going away for the weekend and am expecting eggs to be laid I always put the lay box on the warm side (it doesn't have to be right over the hottest part --that's where the hide is) so the eggs don't get too cold before I get back.

Aliza

 

[fcap86]

My concern is did she lay a second egg? Or is it stuck/eggbound inside her? You had mentioned that she was pushing another one, but mentioned only one egg in your above post.

i just picked her up today and there is definitely another egg in there