Now I'm Really Confused!

[Neon Aurora]

I posted a question in the Health and Medications section, but there is a new development and I thought it more fitting to post it here now. I was becoming worried and confused because my firewater cross refuses to eat and has been digging and really seems like she is ovulating. However, when placed with a male, she bites him in the face. She also seemed to be dropping weight faster than I thought was normal. Well today I found a slug, so that all makes sense. I have several questions in regards to that.

1) Why is has she been refusing to mate when she is far enough along in her cycle to actually produce slugs?

2) This is the slug. I'm 99% sure it is infertile (I suppose there is a very small chance they mated while I left them for 2 minutes to stop a dog getting into the trash, but I seriously doubt it). It's very long, yellow, and squishy. But I was wondering what this circle in it is? It also appears to just have the smallest amount of red around it. What is it? I've never had a slug before, so I don't know what they are supposed to look like. I actually did throw it in the incubator because of the general rule we all follow; incubate until it hatches or stinks. I mean, I suppose there is the tiniest, smallest chance that they mated in the 2 minutes I left them together without supervision.

3) She only laid one and it seems rather large. It is longer than my 45 day old fertile eggs and almost of the same width. I've never had a female just lay one. How long can I expect it to be before the other one comes out? I'm pretty sure I see another one, but I would like a second opinion. I know this picture isn't the best because of the lighting, but if you look in the upper part of her abdomen in the right side, I think I see one there.

4) How do I proceed? She's been much more confusing than my other female. Currently I'm just planning on feeding her like I would any laying female and keeping an eye out for her next ovulation so she can be paired. I'm just really confused why she is refusing to mate and laying slugs.

Any opinions will be appreciated.

 

[acpart]

The red circle in the egg is a sign that it's fertile, though that doesn't necessarily mean that the embryo is going to grow and develop. It is possible that they mated, and it's a good idea to incubate it just in case. It does look like there's a second egg, but it could always be the next one developing. I have had females lay a single egg on occasion. Many females don't eat much during ovulation and even afterwards. I used to take a "hands off" approach where I'd offer food but not worry if they didn't eat. I have had 2 geckos that seemed to be in pretty poor shape by the end of the season: they were sway-backed, very skinny and had trouble holding themselves up on their legs --signs of calcium deficiency. One didn't recover well and I eventually sold her to someone as pet only for not very much. The other did recover and is breeding this season, doing well so far. What I've decided to do for females that drop a lot of weight and don't look so good is to periodically give them some extra calcium and D3 by dipping my finger in water, then dipping it in the calcium and rubbing some of the paste onto their mouths. I also hand feed by picking them up and gently pushing a feeder at the mouth. If they refuse I don't insist.

Aliza

 

[Neon Aurora]

Hmm, so you think she did mate because of the way the egg looks? Honestly, I really don't think she did. The times I tried before that she was very unreceptive and she continued to be unreceptive every time I tried after that.

 

[Neon Aurora]

So it's been 10 days since the slug (it molded, so I threw it out) and I'm still confused. I've checked her every day and there does not appear to be another egg, but there also doesn't appear to be ovulation, either. I'm getting concerned because it just seems like it's getting really late in the season for not accepting a male. Am I missing something here? Should I try housing them together for a while?

She's been eating a bit (I've been dipping into my developing roach colony for her) and has visibly (and numerically) gained weight (She's 64 g), so I don't think there's anything wrong with her. If there was, than I wouldn't worry about breeding her, but she seems perfectly healthy. I'd really like this pair to work out, at least just get 1 or 2 clutches out of it because I think the outcome will be very nice and I was also planning to use a male in my plans for next season.

 

[acpart]

They can be so frustrating! I have a gorgeous tangerine gecko that produced 4 offspring about 4 years ago and since then has been paired with 3 different males and has produced nothing fertile. She ovulates occasionally, rarely lays and when she does it's not fertile. I gave her one more go early this season with my very effective male but no go. You could try introducing them the opposite way (if you were putting the male in with the female, try putting the female in with the male or vice versa) or you may have to give it a miss till next season. I feel for you, unexpected misses happen to me all the time.

Aliza

 

[Neon Aurora]

Darn! I'm going to be so sad if it doesn't work out. I was really exciting for this pair. I hope she doesn't end up not being a viable breeder. That would be really frustrating. But I guess we'll see.

I'll try introducing them the other way. I haven't done that because the male I want to pair her with has a really sensitive temperament so I wasn't sure if he would be too freaked out if I moved him instead of her.

At what point do you think I need to just give up? Is there a certain time in the season when it's just too late?

Too bad my holdback from last season is only 9 months old. Oh well, I'll just have to be prepared to be happy with the one pairing I do have. I've got 8 fertile eggs from that so far (day 55 for the first two! I'm going totally crazy. I check the incubator once in the morning and once in the evening and it's driving absolutely insane waiting for them) and a 5th clutch developing, so that's good at least. I was so looking forward to hatching out some colorful little rainwaters!

 

[Neon Aurora]

So update:

I sort of gave up on her and hadn't been checking. That was a mistake on my part. I remember to check this morning and there were two eggs. I'm very surprised and confused because they both look entirely viable. I don't know how long they were in there. One has quite a bit of pink and the other has only a little bit. I measured the temperature in the laybox and it is about 75. I hope I moved them in time for them to hatch. I wanted to incubate for male, but I feel like moving them from 75 to 89 at this point is too risky. Hopefully moving them from 75 to 81 won't hurt them. I'm so mad at myself! I guess they really must have mated in that little 2 minutes.

I really hope they hatch, and I hope she produces a few more clutches for me!

As far as I can tell, they are alive. They are very full and very firm and (as I mentioned) candle somewhat pink. Although they are a bit longer and less round than most eggs. If anyone else made a similar oops at some point and can offer me some reassurance, I would really appreciate it! I've been so excited for this pairing and would be incredibly happy if they hatch despite my boo-boo.

 

[Neon Aurora]

I'm still not understanding this girl... Just found another egg. Just one. It seems weird to switch between laying one and laying two. I fed her some crickets and she went bonkers on them for approximately 20 seconds (tried to strike at them while still eating another) and then completely lost interest. She is definitely not what I'm used to.