It's been 37 days since her first clutch..

[Khrysty]

Is this normal? Why would she take so long to lay?

Things that have changed since she laid the first clutch:
- Moved her from a 20 gal to a 10 gal tank (to give my larger male more room).
- New tank is heated with infrared, instead of a heat mat. Floor temp is a steady 95, just as it was in the 20 gal.
- Laybox is filled with coco fiber now, instead of the perlite it was filled with earlier

Could any of these have anything to do with her holding on to this clutch? She has 24/7 access to calcium. Is eating semi-regularly but definitely much less than a week ago (she would usually eat about 25-30 mealworms in a day and now is down to a much more normal 5-10), poops every couple days now, instead of every day (probably has to do with the reduction in food intake). She spends a lot of time on the cool side of her viv and is only in the warm side in the really early mornings. I see her in her laybox about that time too but she doesnt lay. Doesn't even dig..

She's healthy otherwise...just isn't laying...how long am I supposed to give her before I get worried?

 

[Baoh]

Is she even visibly gravid? You did not mention this. From the lack of details on that, it's possible that there isn't anything for her to be holding on to.

 

[Khrysty]

Is she even visibly gravid? You did not mention this. From the lack of details on that, it's possible that there isn't anything for her to be holding on to.

Oh yeah, sorry about that. She's huge. The eggs are clearly very large and visible in her belly. She looked "ready" to lay at about 20 days.

 

[Baoh]

Ah, I see. I might start getting concerned. When my females start looking very gravid, they are less than a week from laying. You mention a floor temp of 95. What about a cool side? Do you have a humid hide/laybox on the cool side? My females all lay on the cool side. Mine also won't accept any food near the point they would lay. A day or two before and the appetite is nonexistent. Ravenous right afterward.

 

[Shadraak]

could be just normal, but i would say heat mat under the tank, lights give top down heat, she may not lay because the hides are cool cause not getting any heat that's the only problem i have with lamps vs. uth's, even though where it's at it gets it to that temp, if somethigns over it it's blocking that heat, therefore doing no good. i'd put on a UTH and put 2 hides, one warm one cool, i also have sometimes they will lay on cool sometimes on warm i have both just incase.

 

[Khrysty]

could be just normal, but i would say heat mat under the tank, lights give top down heat, she may not lay because the hides are cool cause not getting any heat that's the only problem i have with lamps vs. uth's, even though where it's at it gets it to that temp, if somethigns over it it's blocking that heat, therefore doing no good. i'd put on a UTH and put 2 hides, one warm one cool, i also have sometimes they will lay on cool sometimes on warm i have both just incase.

There are 3 hides in the tank. One on the cool side, and two on the warm side. The hides on the warm side are all at that 95 so I'm pretty sure the heat lamp isn't the problem. Unless maybe the laybox is just too warm for her to lay?. There's not as big a heat gradient in the smaller tank.

I tried turning the lamp off for a while, and she's in the box now. I don't know if she's digging yet though. If she digs, that was the problem. If not, I'll have to figure something else out

 

[Shadraak]

95 is a bit much i rarely let mine get 92-93, but again it's a light shining on them for heat, they're nocturnal and they benifit more from belly heat than top heat for digestion, and if under the hide is 95 i'd hate to see what it is above it probably too hot.

 

[Khrysty]

The temp is at 90 with the lamp off today. So i'm leaving it off. She was digging around in her laybox earlier but now she's sleeping by her food bowl

 

[Khrysty]

Well, update:

She spent all night last night climbing the walls trying to escape. For my other females that's about-to-lay behavior, but who knows with her. I'm wondering if I took out her lay box, and put down about 2 inches of damp eco earth in her cage, would she like that better for now? It'd be ridiculous to clean out once she laid, but that way she could pick a place that was the exact right temperature and put her eggs there. Before I do that I'd like some input, though. Anyone think it's a bad idea? (or, alternatively, a brilliant one? lol I can always hope).

And what to do about the feeder dish/water/calcium? Should I just lay them on top of the eco earth or bury them a little so they can't tip?

 

[pipedream]

I myself would leave her alone as much as possible. If I bother my older females, they will hold off on laying period. I just had one of my new females lay for the first time but she missed the box completely and smashed the egg and is still holding onto the second egg. It took her nearly two months to lay this one and I am surprised she did not reabsorb them. Give your girl time to adjust to her new environment and leave her alone as much as possible.

 

[Khrysty]

I myself would leave her alone as much as possible. If I bother my older females, they will hold off on laying period. I just had one of my new females lay for the first time but she missed the box completely and smashed the egg and is still holding onto the second egg. It took her nearly two months to lay this one and I am surprised she did not reabsorb them. Give your girl time to adjust to her new environment and leave her alone as much as possible.

That's the current plan, I think.

 

[Olimpia]

I'm in the same boat, I just calculated it and my female is on day 4-something since her last clutch. She didn't look pregnant for a good while though, so I'm just going to assume that she didn't get gravid again for a few weeks. But I'm also dying for her just to lay them.

 

[Khrysty]

She's digging

 

[Khrysty]

She still hasn't laid.

 

[OneFootedAce]

how bout now?

 

[Khrysty]

how bout now?

nothing She looks like she's going to explode, seriously. I've never seen a gecko this wide before. She only poops every 3 days or so now but she's always hunting...

 

[Khrysty]

Actually, all of a sudden i can't see the eggs anymore. Maybe she finally re-absorbed them?

I re-bred her once I saw the eggs were gone. Her first clutch was infertile and this one was never laid..figured she'd refuse if she was gravid, and if she wasn't maybe I could get some good eggs out of her after all, even though its late in the season. She didnt refuse, didnt even move, just let him do his thing.