New female--may have been bred too young!

[Khrysty]

I just took in a female leo today.

The previous owner had been housing her with a male and that's got me a little freaked out because he says he thinks she's only 8 months old.

I need to know what age females reach sexual maturity. I always keep my sexes separated until they're at least a year and a half so I have no idea. Is there a chance the male mated with her? If so, could she have gotten pregnant at such a young age?

I've looked and don't see any eggs developing, but I haven't ruled that out as a possibility. Are there any health risks I should look out for if she did get pregnant?

I'm worried about my new girl

She does look healthy, though. Nice, fat tail.

 

[acpart]

I will admit that I have bred my 8 month olds, over 50 grams, with no ill effects (some of these geckos are now several years old and now 80-90 grams) so it's likely she is sexually mature. She may not have ovulated yet and may also have successfully refused the male. If she's a good weight and for some reason is gravid, chances are she will be OK.

ALiza

 

[Khrysty]

Well she's almost 65 grams, so I guess there won't be any issues if she is gravid. I'll just keep an eye on her.

 

[DLS Reptile]

female leopard geckos sexual maturity is based on age, but If you think of geckos in the wild they are breeding at 30 plus grams. Some breeders like to wait until the geckos is at least 1.5 years old and at least 50 grams. I Do not go for age as much as weight. I wait until females are at least 1 year of age and minimum weight of 55 grams (usually my breeder females are 70-80 grams). There are breeders that breed females at 7 months of age and 50 grams with no ill effects. The big picture is to make sure the females body is strong enough to withstand egg production and laying. The following pic is one of my females that I used for breeding last year. She was 87 grams before I sold her.

 

[Khrysty]

She's pretty!

I ended up getting a picture of my girl (Morgan)'s underside. Anyone wanna take a guess as to whether there are any eggies in there?

(sorry about the quality--she kept squirming! lol)
http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/3/2/16/f_morganbellym_7719127.jpg

 

[Khrysty]

I will admit that I have bred my 8 month olds, over 50 grams, with no ill effects (some of these geckos are now several years old and now 80-90 grams) so it's likely she is sexually mature. She may not have ovulated yet and may also have successfully refused the male. If she's a good weight and for some reason is gravid, chances are she will be OK.

ALiza

Really? You've bred at 8 months? Everywhere I look it seems the general consensus on sexual maturity is at least 10 months. Did they have viable eggs?