Not eating and fatherly behavior..

[Hankj]

I have a male blizzard, I was told about 5-6 months. I do not have a weight for him. He is housed with a female bell that is two years, I've been told. I've had them for a month and a half or so. They were very skinny looking, the female was DEATHLY looking. I was told she was certain to have parasites and would die. Now she has really plumped up and just laid an egg.

I saw him trying to breed about two or three weeks ago for the first time. Now I'd say for a week the boy has stopped eating.

The female stopped eating probably Sunday. I noticed her acting weird like she was trying to look for a place to lay the egg, hanging around the moist hut. I purchased some vermiculite and made a little laying box and left. This was Wednesday. Thursday morning I see both of them in the box and an egg.

Yesterday she started eating again. He still will not eat and it's starting to take a tole on his appearance.

He also does not leave the egg? He sits/stands right by it at all times. I have never read about them doing this but then again, these are my first geckos.

I have been feeding them mealworms so I'm gonna see if I can get him to eat some small crickets. Is this normal for him to guard the egg? And could this be why he isn't eating? I am planning on buying an incubator today and removing the egg from their tank.

Another question, when she laid the egg she made a hole and plopped the egg in there. The egg is laying at an angle, not flat on the long side, could that be a problem?

 

[sausage]

awww im glad you got them back to health.
thats really weird! i dont leave eggs in tanks to have seen any of this behaviour.
will just have to wait and see if he changes once its gone.
leos normally lay two eggs at a time have you seen the other one? could be under the first one?!
the angle of the egg sholdnt be a problem. you need to mark the top of the eggs with a non toxic pen because when you move the eggs you MUST NOT turn them as this will kill the embryo. the pen make will help you to make sure the eggs dont turn
good luck tough
keep us posted

 

[Hankj]

I removed the egg and laying box and placed the egg in the incubator. I've read that when you "candle" the egg redish pink means fertile and yellowish means infertile? The egg looks pretty yellow with what looks like a few red lines. I'll wait and see how it looks in a few days before I call it a dud lol.

I offered him the crickets and he pounced on one of them so at least he ate something. I also gave her a pinkie which she quickly devoured lol.

There is not another egg in the tank, it didn't look like she had another one in her after I found the first one either. Now that she has the pinkie in her it looks like she is pregnant again, though. She's also not sniffing around looking for the lay box, either.

Hopefully he will keep eating and go back to meal worms... crickets are such a pain to me = p

 

[Theinfidel]

Can't have geckos that are not the same size in the same enclosure. Separate them and try giving him different foods to see if he'll eat at all because sometimes geckos will change their preference of food.

 

[sausage]

agreed crickets are a pain. is so strange hes gone back to eating after the eggs gone lol
well red lines in your egg would be blood vessles, i always say never give up on an egg! well untill it goes green and mouldy
my first few eggs took months to hatch

 

[Hankj]

Yeah I'm not sure if it was the removing of the egg or just the crickets. Maybe instinct decided mealworms weren't quick enough to get his attention.