Okay, so a little background: my family acquired a pair of leopard geckos this past weekend rather spontaneously, so we have been diligently researching their care the past few days. One of the geckos proved to be a male thanks to an earlier forum post here, and the other's sex was still up in the air until yesterday, when I was cleaning their habitat and noticed that SHE is rather swollen with what appear to be two very large eggs on either side of her belly.
I had posted on the forum earlier about sexing, and it was suggested to me that I separate the geckos despite the fact that they had been tank mates for quite some time prior to us adopting them. Obviously, that is easier said than done. I have a lot of questions, but I guess I can start with the biggest ones:
1. Is my female gravid, or just ovulating? I know this is difficult to answer without seeing a photo. I haven't gotten a clear shot of her belly BUT have seen enough photos of others' gravid vs. ovulating females to suspect that she is. The eggs are very large and protruding from either side of her torso.
2. Is it okay if my female is gravid? These geckos are very young (I assume). They were given to me as "babies" and each measure 5-6" long, the female being slightly larger and bulkier than the male. I'm afraid of egg binding. What's to be done, if anything?
3. Should I still separate the geckos? Keep in mind that, again, we're not equipped to do this just yet and would have to go out and purchase materials for an entire new setup--that's fine, but I just want to make sure it's necessary before I go drop a bunch of money on more reptile stuff and turn part of our house into a leopard gecko farm.
4. If the female is gravid (and I'm pretty sure she is), how long will it be before she attempts to lay her eggs? They look rather large as it is, but that may be due to her small size?
Should I provide a nesting box now?
Regardless of your opinion of the conditions under which these geckos were kept before we got them and the manner through which they were adopted, this is the situation we're dealing with now and I admittedly have no idea what I'm doing, so please keep your responses positive and productive (had to say, as I'm a newbie to this forum but not forums in general).
Thanks in advance for any input. It's greatly appreciated!
I had posted on the forum earlier about sexing, and it was suggested to me that I separate the geckos despite the fact that they had been tank mates for quite some time prior to us adopting them. Obviously, that is easier said than done. I have a lot of questions, but I guess I can start with the biggest ones:
1. Is my female gravid, or just ovulating? I know this is difficult to answer without seeing a photo. I haven't gotten a clear shot of her belly BUT have seen enough photos of others' gravid vs. ovulating females to suspect that she is. The eggs are very large and protruding from either side of her torso.
2. Is it okay if my female is gravid? These geckos are very young (I assume). They were given to me as "babies" and each measure 5-6" long, the female being slightly larger and bulkier than the male. I'm afraid of egg binding. What's to be done, if anything?
3. Should I still separate the geckos? Keep in mind that, again, we're not equipped to do this just yet and would have to go out and purchase materials for an entire new setup--that's fine, but I just want to make sure it's necessary before I go drop a bunch of money on more reptile stuff and turn part of our house into a leopard gecko farm.
4. If the female is gravid (and I'm pretty sure she is), how long will it be before she attempts to lay her eggs? They look rather large as it is, but that may be due to her small size?
Should I provide a nesting box now?Regardless of your opinion of the conditions under which these geckos were kept before we got them and the manner through which they were adopted, this is the situation we're dealing with now and I admittedly have no idea what I'm doing, so please keep your responses positive and productive (had to say, as I'm a newbie to this forum but not forums in general).
Thanks in advance for any input. It's greatly appreciated!
