Ovulating 36G gecko

[shadowx362]

I just noticed and one of my tangs, 5-6 month old and 36G, gecko is ovulating. I was in the middle of cooling the geckos down and I was surprised to see this. So I have switched her to a normal temp cage and was wondering if I should introduce the male? I filled her bowl with supers in hopes of getting her to weight in time.
Let me know what you guys would do.
~Edgar

 

[LeapinLizards]

36 grams is too small to breed, let her gain a little weight, THEN introduce the male, not the other way around. Producing eggs takes a LOT out of them.

 

[shadowx362]

^ yeah I know she is WAY to young to be breeding + egg production requires a lot of energy. This is why I am wondering on what I should do, because if she starts to develop infertile eggs then she is going to be laying pointless eggs.
I think I'll wait and see and if she starts to develop eggs then I will introduce a male so at least she wont be going through all the stress for nothing.
Thanks again,
~Edgar

 

[italipinos8]

I would say try and see if she will re-absorb the eggs. She may not lay them.

 

[shadowx362]

^ yup, I'll wait till that point and if the first clutch it laid then I'll introduce the male.

 

[Nigel4less]

Atleast hit 42-45 grams before even thinking about it. But preferably 50+ Grams plus.

 

[shadowx362]

^ you know Nigel I would of loved to not have to even breed this girl till she reached 50G, but darn ovulation came early I still wont breed her, unless she starts laying eggs:main_thumbsup:

 

[Mateusz Hajdas]

If she is 5-6 moths old I wouldn't cool her. She is too young and still growing. I also wouldn't introduce her to a male this season.

 

[fallen_angel]

I agree, ovulation doesn't trump over the geckos weight when it comes to breeding. Many females may ovulate before they are of optimum weight, but it's still very very important to wait until she's grown more. There are so many complications that come with breeding a gecko that is too small, it can even kill her. We have a 66 gram female that was pretty chunky, she started the season and is now down to 50 grams. Losing 10-15 grams on a little 35 gram leo? Then you would have a 20-25 gram leo, and that's just scary. I know you feel that it's better to have her laying fertile eggs if she's going to lay anyway, but I really don't see the logic on this one. It would be much safer for her to try to pass infertile eggs, than to be bred. I hope this doesn't offend you, but it almost sounds like you're trying to justify reasons to breed her early. Please, just be patient and it will all be worth it in the end.

 

[Gregg M]

Here is my opinion. Just because an animal is ovulating, it does not mean she is ready to breed... On the other hand, just because an animal is at a weight some that some of you believe is not good enough for breeding, it does not mean she is not ready or able to breed without an issue... The fact is that overall body condition is the main factor... You can have a 60 gram female that is in no shape to be bred and you can have a 38 to 40 gram female that will bust out 18 eggs a season with no problem...

 

[thestack510]

I think if you breed her too early you may stunt her growth. Then it will take even longer for her to get to good breeding size. I had a male that I thought was female (I couldn't see his pores) get to a couple of Super Snows before they were good size. The offspring are very small and the mothers took a long time to bulk up again. My advice is to be patient, if not you'll end up with more work on your hands in the long run, and possibly a gecko with a shortened life span... or worse.

 

[fallen_angel]

Here is my opinion. Just because an animal is ovulating, it does not mean she is ready to breed... On the other hand, just because an animal is at a weight some that some of you believe is not good enough for breeding, it does not mean she is not ready or able to breed without an issue... The fact is that overall body condition is the main factor... You can have a 60 gram female that is in no shape to be bred and you can have a 38 to 40 gram female that will bust out 18 eggs a season with no problem...

That may be true, but the lowest weight that I have ever risked breeding is 45 grams, and needless to say, I won't ever do it again. Did the female lay fertile eggs? Yes. Did she produce healthy babies? Yes. Is she still alive and healthy? Yes. But she hasn't gained her weight back very well like she should have and continues to be very small. Bad things don't necessarily happen, but it is taking a risk. Also, I think a gecko being in no shape to breed and weighing 60 grams is irrelevant. Any gecko that is in no shape to breed shouldn't be bred period, that is not the issue here.

 

[thestack510]

That may be true, but the lowest weight that I have ever risked breeding is 45 grams, and needless to say, I won't ever do it again. Did the female lay fertile eggs? Yes. Did she produce healthy babies? Yes. Is she still alive and healthy? Yes. But she hasn't gained her weight back very well like she should have and continues to be very small. Bad things don't necessarily happen, but it is taking a risk. Also, I think a gecko being in no shape to breed and weighing 60 grams is irrelevant. Any gecko that is in no shape to breed shouldn't be bred period, that is not the issue here.

I agree, better safe than sorry.

 

[shadowx362]

I dont know if you guys get what I am saying. I am not going to breed the girl unless she starts to lay eggs on her own. I didnt even plan to start breeding the good weighed females till Jan/Feb and the others like her until april if they were at a good weight by then. I also didnt want to breed this early because I wanted to have a "relaxing" time from all the baby cage cleaning. So yeah, I understand ovulation does NOT mean they are ready to breed hence the post about a young female ovulating.
Anyways, thanks for all the reply's concerning the gecko and I'll keep you guys posted on whether or not she develops and lay eggs.

 

[fallen_angel]

I know you feel that it's better to have her laying fertile eggs if she's going to lay anyway, but I really don't see the logic on this one. It would be much safer for her to try to pass infertile eggs, than to be bred.

Best of luck to you and her

 

[shadowx362]

Ok just got reading the other half of the comments.
Yeah I understand what your saying Jess about the Non fertile eggs laying thing. I just though fertile eggs would be better than bad eggs, but now thinking about it more I would say some infertile eggs could be re-absorbed from now and then causing less weight loss and non healthy babies. I dont want to be raising 1G babies from tiny eggs. Nor am I going to "Die" if one of my female decides not to breed LOL. So with that being the case I'll leave her alone and wait and see how she does.
Thanks again everyone for the great comments concerning the gecko and no I wont get offended by what you guys say. In fact some of you make great point:main_thumbsup:
~Edgar

 

[shadowx362]

Yes, Jess I got your point. Its just that I Skipped onto the second page thinking nothing new had been written, then when back and saw your post which made a great point I hadn't though of.

 

[fallen_angel]

Yeah I didn't see that you had posted again either LOL
Best of luck to you and her, and having a great '09 season

 

[Gregg M]

That may be true, but the lowest weight that I have ever risked breeding is 45 grams, and needless to say, I won't ever do it again. Did the female lay fertile eggs? Yes. Did she produce healthy babies? Yes. Is she still alive and healthy? Yes. But she hasn't gained her weight back very well like she should have and continues to be very small. Bad things don't necessarily happen, but it is taking a risk. Also, I think a gecko being in no shape to breed and weighing 60 grams is irrelevant. Any gecko that is in no shape to breed shouldn't be bred period, that is not the issue here.

From my experience, 40 grams at a year old is 100% fine to breed... It is all a matter of opinion here actually once the 40 gram mark is reached... From what I have seen and from what many of the breeders here will tell you, as long as the female is in good breeding condition, breeding at 40 grams will not have any adverse effects on the leo...

Growth will not be stunted and gaining weight should not be an issue as long as all of their husbandry needs are in order... The way my leos are kept, weight loss during breeding is almost a non-issue... The most any of my females have lost during breeding is 3 grams... ALL of my females eat until they are about 2-3 days before laying... They resume feeding the day after laying...

With this being said, there are certain individual leos that are just not suited to breed no matter what their condition is... These are the animals that will take a long time to gain weight after breeding... Sometimes they never bounce back and wind up dead no matter how many grams they weigh before being introduced to a male... This is one of many unfortunate realities when breeding leopard geckos or any reptile... This has happened to most of us...

Anyway, Shadowx, although infertile eggs take from the female, they still take less than fertile eggs do... If you have ever seen infertile eggs, they are very thin walled and soft... Less of the females vit, mineral, and calcium is used to produce them. Plus adding a male will only complicate the situation more... Infertile eggs are also easier for the female to lay so being egg bound should not be much of a worry... So in this case, due to the age and weight of your female, a male should NOT be introduced...

 

[rubym]

We have a bell that is 32 grams and decided to lay 4 slugs. The (herp) vet said that it is better for her to lay non fertile eggs then go through the stress of breeding and laying fertile eggs. The slugs were smaller and mushier then fertile eggs would have been. She didn't go off eating when she laid them and didn't loose even a gram.