Where's the fertility???

[JordanAng420]

I wasn't sure which section this belongs in, so I guess here would be okay.

I'm quite frusterated. Is there anything one might be doing wrong, that would make a gecko produce fertile eggs all season one season, but infertile waterbags the next? I have 2 females that have proven to me they can produce fertile eggs...but REFUSE to this season. They've been with the same male they were last time...my husbandry has not changed...everything's the same.

I also have a first time breeder that has so far given me 3 infertile clutches. This worries me. I'm a little paranoid when it comes to my geckos, but I mean jeez. I can't have just ONE good egg?

Do I need to be giving them, like, a TON of calcium since that's what produces the shell & makes it harder? I can't understand what i'm doing wrong, and why I just keep getting a ton of waterbags. :bomb:

 

[Hopefull Monster Geckos]

its possible that the female just wont produce fertile eggs for the first few clutches as it is the first time for it breeding, the same thing happened to me for the first 4 clutches then bam the rest were fertile, and as for the calcium just keep a dish of it in the cage and she will take what she needs.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

...as for the calcium just keep a dish of it in the cage and she will take what she needs.

:main_yes: Especially true while they're gravid, but really even if they aren't.

 

[JordanAng420]

They have calcium 24/7. I also dust their feeder insects. Maybe I just need to chill out & wait.

 

[JordanAng420]

I just feel kinda like i'm running around in circles every time I introduce my male again...

 

[acpart]

I have been puzzled by this too. Many times I've had my first time breeder do great and the next year have all sorts of problems. Two years ago I had a first time breeder that laid 10 clutches. All 20 eggs hatched and only 1 baby died because it was born with an abdominal hernia. The next year, last year, she kept laying outside the lay box (same setup as the previous year) or laid infertile eggs with a grand total of about 8 eggs laid and 2 live babies. I don't understand it either.

Aliza

 

[JordanAng420]

So I just got another 2 sets of slugs from different females....
I just wanna :bigcry:
What on earth am I doing wrong???

 

[BalloonzForU]

Have you changed feeders or where you get them from?

How often is the male visiting with the females and for how long? His he working overtime and poss shooting blanks, or not enough and the girls not retaining the sperm this time around?

 

[JordanAng420]

Thanks for answering, Fe. The feeders have not changed, I have always used mealies and supers however...last year I was feeding them corn meal mixed in with the cricket feed...I have only just started doing this again the past 3 weeks or so. I switched their water from tap water to filtered...

I introduce my male at the very first sign of ovulation...after that I re-introduce him about 3 or 4 days later....and sometimes i'll even try it a 3rd time 3 or 4 days after that...usually by the 3rd breeding, they don't let him anywhere near them, so I stop. He definately "gets the job done" the times I actually see copulation. It's so strange that last year, even with all those problems with the mealworms, I still got nice, good eggs every 3 weeks. Now i'm doing everything but lay the darn things myself and, nothin...

 

[Khrysty]

Or...what sort of water do you give your girls? Is it possible something could have gotten into it?

EDIT:
Oh nvm..you answered it in your earlier response.

 

[JordanAng420]

I should mention I only have this one male to 2 females right now...he's not a gecko-tramp...

 

[Baoh]

Two females bred to one male are having infertile eggs and you think it's the fault of the females? I would first look to the male, given the math.

 

[Khrysty]

Two females bred to one male are having infertile eggs and you think it's the fault of the females? I would first look to the male, given the math.

But she said it's the same male as last year and that nothing to do with their husbandry has changed...

 

[JordanAng420]

Yes, my male is a proven breeder. He's perfectly capable. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

 

[crotaphytidae]

What temperature are the males kept at on their hot spot? and what is the ambient room temperature?

 

[Baoh]

But she said it's the same male as last year and that nothing to do with their husbandry has changed...

So? An animal can be in one state of being on year one and another on year two.

 

[Baoh]

Yes, my male is a proven breeder. He's perfectly capable. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

Was he proven this year? Just because parts worked before does not mean they work now.

 

[crotaphytidae]

That's why I'm curious what the temp of the male's hot spot is. If the temp is to hot the sperm will die.

 

[JordanAng420]

That's why I'm curious what the temp of the male's hot spot is. If the temp is to hot the sperm will die.

The male is 2 years old, kept separate, and is introduced only for breeding purposes...
The temps on the hot side go from 95-97 degrees...the cool side goes from 75-80 degrees...the temps are the same as they always have been. The proven female continues to lay her slugs in the moist hide (as I believe this comes from last years experiance) and the new breeder seems to just lay HER slugs wherever she is at the time.

He has NOT proven this year, again I am puzzled as to why his "parts" would just "work one year but not the next" if nothing has changed on my end...? I'm so frusterated, i'm almost at the point of just investing in a new breeding pair.

 

[DarthGekko]

That's why I'm curious what the temp of the male's hot spot is. If the temp is to hot the sperm will die.

Try lowering the hot side to 90f. It can't hurt