Gravid female

[crazytanak]

My female Lacey is gravid im pretty sure. When I feel her belly i can feel an egg shaped lump on either side. With eggs she weighs 29 grams.

I checked her calcium sacs, and they appeared to be pretty empty or close to it. (hard to tell when she tries to eat my finger!) I have seperated her and have added extra calcium to her food. She has been on CGD since i got her a year ago and gets calcium dusted crickets about once a month or so. She ate some last weekend and this weekend. Last week she got some baby food/CGD mix for a day or 2. (50/50 mix, first time with baby food just as a treat, she has never had it before)

this is my first time with eggs, so i would like to know the signs of calcium crash and egg binding, just so i can keep an eye out. So far her energy is the same as before and she has been eating and climbing the same.

Also, besides the dusted crickets and extra calcium in the food, is there anything else i can do to up the calcium. Im not going to put her in with the male again til the eggs are laid and the calcium is up again.

[samanthajane13]

First of all, I'd get a small dish of pure calcium-without vitamin D-in her tank, so she can help herself.

As for calcium crash and egg binding, I've never experienced either in my girls, so I can't help you on those.

Obviously, you know that she's MUCH too light-weight to be mating!!  And the calcium deficit isn't a good thing, either!!

She and the eggies will be in my prayers!!

[zuk450]

im not too sure on egg binding symptoms (probably  loss of energy, swollen abdomen probably) the early signs of a calcium crash are usually a wavy tail, followed by softening of the bones (the lower jaw especially), lethargy, and  if it gets too bad you may begin to see swollen joints.

if she has been eating CGD for a year now she should have enough calcium to at least completely form and pass these eggs, they may be duds, but i would think she would be able to get them out on her own. ive had geckos take 50 days to lay eggs between clutches, so if she doesntlay them right at 30-35 days dont panic too much

also, it might be a good idea to separate her from the male on a more permament basis, if you put her back in with him odds are she will end up gravid again fairly quickly. i think you should give her a year or so in her own enclosure to fully mature and get upto a better breeding weight..

[crazytanak]

why would the calcium supply be so low if she has been on CGD for so long, isnt it supposed to have enough calcium in it

[samanthajane13]

Well, you said that her calcium sacks were depleted, she needs calcium.

Her bad diet in the past probably didn't help.

Now she needs to catch up, before she starts going into calcium crash from laying and making eggs without a healthy reserve.

[crazytanak]

she never had a bad diet. shes always been on CGD and nothing else but dusted crickets. How can the calcium be low if CGD is a complete diet?

[samanthajane13]

I checked her calcium sacs, and they appeared to be pretty empty or close to it. (hard to tell when she tries to eat my finger!) I have seperated her and have added extra calcium to her food. She has been on CGD since i got her a year ago and gets calcium dusted crickets about once a month or so. She ate some last weekend and this weekend. Last week she got some baby food/CGD mix for a day or 2. (50/50 mix, first time with baby food just as a treat, she has never had it before)

Uh...okay...I must be hallucinating.


Anyway, when they start making eggs, they can become calcium-depleted.

[amcclain1092]

I think what crazytanak is trying to say is her calcium sacs ARE depleted, but she has been feeding her CGD strictly for the most part so shouldn't her calcium levels be fine.

But samanthajane makes a good point, laying eggs deplete the calcium sacs so they make look low now even if she's been eating a good diet.
Personally, I supplement my CGD with calcium every feeding, switching between D3 and non D3 calcium.
If you remove her from the male and she stops producing eggs her calcium sacs should begin to fill again and be fine.

[samanthajane13]

You can also put a dish of pure calcium in her tank so she can help herself.

Every one of my tanks that houses a female has it's own calcium dish-year 'round.

[crazytanak]

do you leave the calcium powdered or do you mix it with water

[samanthajane13]

do you leave the calcium powdered or do you mix it with water

I leave my calcium dry.

I often catch the girls refilling.

[crazytanak]

I have Lacey in her own enclosure right now, but its right next to the other cage with everybody else. Today i caught miranda by the side of the cage closest to Lacey with her hand on the glass, peering at Lacey. She even slept for a time right by the glass. It was soooo cute, its almost as if she misses Lacey

[samanthajane13]

 

[crazytanak]

Well no eggs yet  she hasnt been eating as much for the past couple of days, and the eggs seemed to have moved lower in her abdomen.

How long should I wait for eggs before I take her to the vet? Its been a week since I noticed firm eggs in her belly. Her enrgy is fine, and shes been hanging out in the lay box a lot.

I did check her calcium sacs again today. I think I was looking in the wrong spot last time because they look full today and it has only been a week.