A little morale boost please guys :(

[Liizard]

Hey guys, this is my first post on here, so glad i found this site, seems like a great community so far, very helpful from the comments i'm reading.

I'm looking for any advice that can help me out.. This is my second year with a breeding pair, last year was my females first time breeding, produced a lot of eggs, around 10 clutches, a lot for a first timer I hear? 3 eggs from the 20 appeared fertile when they were laid, u had to look really hard though, a faint bullseye to start with, but soon died during incubation, and im sure all my temps and moisture levels were spot on. this season, i had high hopes and eagerly awaited her first clutch, looked nice and white, a little soft though and theres always one normal sized egg, and one smaller egg, dont know y though?? but sadly, i incubated them none the less but they candled yellow after 4 days and then went on to sink and smell so had to pip them

Just after some encouragment really, is it common for a first clutch of the second season to be infertile?? I Have witnessed them mating, on numerous occasions.

She is nearly 2 years old and weighs 57g, a very small female. and my male is 1 3/4 years old and weighs 80g, I do keep them together and they appear to get along just fine.

Thanks guys, sorry it is so long :s

 

[acpart]

There's no sure thing with leopard geckos. Some of us had unusually bad seasons last season and we're not sure why, although a number of people feel it is tied to mealworm feeding. All I can say, is keep trying and see what happens. Make sure your incubator temperatures are as steady as possible. Maybe post again and list exactly what you're doing in terms of incubator, substrate, containers etc. Sometimes it takes a gecko awhile to get started with fertile eggs. Sometimes the gecko may just not be a good breeder. I had a very slow start last season with a bunch of infertile eggs. I was expecting my first babies around the beginning of April and didn't get anything to hatch until mid-May. My previous star female who produced 20 hatchlings 2 years ago, laid most of her eggs outside the lay box this season and produced 2.

Good luck, we're rooting for you.

Aliza

 

[lillith]

Welcome to the site, my girls had infertile first lays, too. It is a little depressing.

I would say make sure you have your girl well supplemented after her first 20 egg (!!!) season. I don't know how you feel about pinkies, but maybe a 1-3 day old furless mouse once a month might help...I know that's controversial somewhat, but if your girl likes them, it's a good way to quickly get a high-calorie protein and calcium rich food into her. Aliza has given me some good advice so far. Perhaps waxworms are the way to go, but maybe she just didn't get enough calcium. Maybe it's the boy who has the fertility problem.

Another thought is that this might not be a bad time of year to separate them for a month or two, it will give her a chance to 'bulk up' without having to waste energy running away from the boy. Reintroduce them maybe toward the end of January or February and see what happens!

~Best of luck to you, look forward to seeing you more!

 

[Liizard]

Cheers Acpart and Lillith, I have thought about seperating the two of them before, but at the moment they both seem rather calm and seem to be keeping out of eachothers way. I use three supplementing aids... Euro Rep pure calcium which i dust with 3 times a week, and leave a cap full in the tank. Nutrobal Dusting supplement with D3 3 times a week, and I even use Exo Terra Calcium liquid supplement in their water. And as for the (pinkie mice) I bought a couple this morning from my local pet store, thawed them out like they told me to and they Love them!! Guessing it was ok to feed my male 1 aswel... If so I will continue to feed them a pinkie once a month right?

As far as the incubator goes, its not too shabby!! got a hoovabator, running at 82-85, so a little fluctuation, but ive ordered a Habistat Proportional thermostat which ive read is a good choice to keep it stable? Ive also been using Albeys incubating method, perlite .8, everyone seems to be achieving great things with this method, what do you guys use??

Some other info: My tank is a 20 gallon, 3 hide boxes, high temp at the moment is 86.

Thanks a lot guys

 

[fallen_angel]

I would feed a pinkie after every clutch she lays so that she can bulk up and be ready to lay the next one a few weeks to a month later. So yeah, that would be about 1 pinkie once per month or so.

We too use Albey's incubation method and absolutely love it (have no reason to change). We had some problems due to temp. fluctuation because we don't have a thermostat on our incubator yet, so that's great that you have one. It sounds like you supplement very well. I would think with so many problems with eggs, perhaps one of your breeder's just isn't very fertile.

 

[Liizard]

Maybe thats the case, a bad breeder?? Is that common?

Following from where I left off, My female had just finished laying her second clutch of the season, one last nite that was a complete dud, flat as a pancake. <== Which she laid outside her moist hide which she has never done before, her hide was plenty moist. and then the second egg around 10 minutes ago which has firmed up nice, just looks a little small... around 3/4 of an inch. why is one off her eggs always like a hot water bottle aswel, she keeps having one big egg and one thats small and soggy??
I find it really strange, as last season which was her first ever, her second clutch were both big, firm, and were fertile for a small period of incubation. Sadly they died, and I havnt had a clutch like that since, same breeding male aswel.

And on top of that its only been around 9-10 days since her last clutch, she has never laid a clutch so soon after the other before.. also, I have read countless messages on the forums of peoples geckos laying outside of the hide before, but never thought my lil girl would do it, no fair

I guess i cant cry too much, as some peoples leos are much worse of than mine.. just gotta be glad shes still healthy and not egg bound!!

Thanks guys

 

[Liizard]

oh yeah, thanks to Fallen_Angel 2