So i need some advice from those experienced in my dilemma...

[StatikStepz]

Just for the heck of it, I went to grab my het RADAR girl to flip her over to see if i saw any black in her belly, to see if she was able to eat some of the larger worms i gave her, because i gave her larger supers in her dish instead of the smaller ones she has been eating to see if she was big enough to take to them yet. And when i flipped her over, what do i see...?!?! She is ovulating right now! And hard at that! And so i weighed her... She is 40 grams as of now.

Do you have any good ideas to get her up to breeding size asap? Reason i ask is because every time i have ever paired up a gecko, it was right when it started to ovulate (and at breedable size), but never had one start to ovulate before it was breeding size, and have to wait. So i want to make sure that when i pair her, that she is still ovulating in full swing, and not catch it at the end of her ovulation cycle or anything, and then lose out on a bunch of eggs i could have had... esp. being a het RADAR, and my only het RADAR female this year. Do you know how long ovulation will usually last if not paired up with another gecko? Is it still the same as if they were paired immediately... around 2-3 months?? Or does it end sooner, because she has had no "action"? Curious, because i do not know as i have never waited that long to find out. Or do you think i should just start giving her a diet of waxworms to get her to throw on a few grams, and get maybe around 45 grams, and then pair her up (in maybe a month or so if she is able to pack on a couple grams), just to make sure i don't miss it, and hope her eggs AND her do ok? That's crazy though... never had one start ovulating at 37-40 grams range before!

Thanks for your help!

 

[StatikStepz]

(I mean, I know i can feed her waxworms to get her to gain a little weight faster, but i don't JUST want to feed her nothing BUT waxworms, because i am very iffy on them, yanno. I have used waxworms before, but not as just a straight diet for the gecko for like a month straight because i needed her to gain some weight before a certain time, because of my crunch for time...)

 

[KelliH]

Honestly, if she is 40 grams I would go ahead and breed her. If she's in full blown ovulation she isn't going to gain much weight if any right now. Basically now all that is missing from her ova is the male's sperm, and once she becomes gravid and lays her first clutch she will eat and in between each subsequent clutch as well. Just what I would do though; doesn't mean it's right for anyone else.

 

[JordanAng420]

I'm not sure how long ovulation lasts after copulation....but as far as gaining weight, variety is the key from my personal experience. You know what you could try, and my geckos LOVE them...Butterworms. Silkies are also a good choice. Crickets are a PITA, but it's good to throw them in the mix every now and then. If you can get a hold of some smaller roaches, you could try them as well. If I were you, I would get a small amount of a few different things (besides waxworms, but you can use those sparingly as well). And some may not agree with me on this, but a pinky couldn't hurt either, especially if you plan on breeding her soon.

Honestly, I think that if she's a healthy 45 grams, you could go ahead and breed her. Just make sure she always has food and calcium available.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I agree with Kelli. If the gecko has good eating habits then I would go ahead and breed her.

 

[StatikStepz]

Thaks Everyone! The advice helped alot, and think i got the confirmation i needed.

Yeah, she has no problems eating as of now, even though she is in full ovulation, so I think i will go ahead and pair her up then, because who knows how long she has even been ovulating, and still would not have noticed if i had not decided to check her belly to see if i saw a full stomach of food, lol.

I am literally hopping off the computer chair to put her in with the male now... I hope she is receptive to him!

 

[Tony C]

I have a female Tremper who is about the same size, and according to the breeder she is almost two years old, so she must be done growing. I was hesitant to breed her, but she ovulated, developed infertile eggs, and laid them without an issue, so after that I introduced her to a male.

 

[DarthGekko]

Honestly, if she is 40 grams I would go ahead and breed her. If she's in full blown ovulation she isn't going to gain much weight if any right now. Basically now all that is missing from her ova is the male's sperm, and once she becomes gravid and lays her first clutch she will eat and in between each subsequent clutch as well. Just what I would do though; doesn't mean it's right for anyone else.

I agree with Kelli. Whether she breeds or not she will have the same stress from the eggs. Just feed her well. You might try waxworms as a meal once a week to keep her weight up.....