What to do, any hints would be very appreciated!

[BalloonzForU]

Ginger just laid her second clutch, they have bullseyes, GREAT! However just like the first clutch she laid them on the paper towels, and was laying near them. I'm very certain they are fertile as so were the last clutch. However, the last clutch I found too late, she had crushed one, the shell had started to dry out on the other, and half way through the incubation the minor cracks became major cracks and started leaking, ultimately collapsing and molding, found dead baby inside.

Now this clutch, I found this morning, I found in time as they were still somewhat warm and moist to the touch and easy to remove from the paper towels and from each other. Great, these two should hatch. However I think I was just lucky this time, that I found them right after she laid them. How on earth do you train a gecko that won't use her lay box to use it? She does use the lay box, but only for her moist hide. I use coco fibers in it, I'm wondering if I should try moss for her to lay her eggs in, and maybe she'll lay in there. I have never had this problem with fertile eggs before. Arrrrggggggg I want Bell Babies!!!!!

 

[geckogod2]

i use a rubbermaid shoe box 1/3 filled with peat moss with a 2x2 hole cut in the lod.. i never had a problem with laying the eggs anywhere else.

 

[Jeanne]

Not sure if this would work, but maybe you should line the bottom of the whole enclosure with the Moss, Instead of just the lay box?

 

[BalloonzForU]

Not sure if this would work, but maybe you should line the bottom of the whole enclosure with the Moss, Instead of just the lay box?

Humm, make the whole tub a lay box then make the moss area smaller till all that's left is what's in the lay box itself. That might work. Thanks Jeanne!

Anyone ever have this happen? What did you do, and what was the outcome?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I have a few females that absolutely will not lay their eggs in the moist hide no matter what. In these cases, I use a shoebox container with about 1.5" of moist peat moss and vermiculite and put it in one of my hatchling racks as the moist hide. When the females are getting ready to lay, I just put them in there for a few days until they do. I call these shoeboxes the "Maternity Ward", and they cannot get out! LOL!!!

The only problem I have experienced doing it this way is occasionally the eggs will be stuck to the bottom of the plastic box, in which case I just flex it until the eggs come loose.

 

[brandy101010]

Glad you found them in time! One of my babies might be in there!

 

[BalloonzForU]

Marcia, that's a great idea. I'll do that, but put a find layer of coco fiber in there to keep the eggs from sticking to the tub. That's why I use coco fiber now, too many stuck eggs with moss.

LOL Yes Brandy's got Dibs!!!

 

[Gregg M]

Felicia, I have found that offering more options works well for this issue... Instead of having one lay box in the encloser, offer 2 or three in different temp gradients.... What one female senses is ideal conditions to drop her eggs in, might not be right for another female...

 

[Brian O]

I would agree with Gregg on this one. I had this happen a couple of times because the conditions in the moist hide weren't ideal. They will look for a spot where the heat and humidity are correct. So to start try moving the hide to where she lays. Also check the moisture. I have heard coconut fibers dry out quickly. I use sphagnum moss and do well with it. I also use a larger hide box in the females cage so it has a wider temp range in it for them to lay. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[BalloonzForU]

Thanks Gregg & Brian, those are also some great ideas.

She's a big girl and I can't really put more than one hide in her tub, she'd have no ground floor at all. I guess I can move the hide into the middle of the tub where she has been laying the eggs and hope she uses it and not the hot side in the back, where they will dry out for sure. Brian, if you moisten the coco fibers as you would vermiculite when used for incubation, it holds the moisture pretty good. I check all the hides moisture every day and I have only had to moisten it again every few days or more.

Lots of great ideas, I'm not sure which way to go. Marcia's idea would be the only sure thing, so I don't loose anymore eggs guessing why Ginger won't use her laybox. Well I may have some time to decided as the first clutch was 6/9 and it's been over a month between. But then again, Bunnie waited a month for her second clutch and has been laying all her other ones 2 weeks apart now. Oh what to do, what to do? lol

 

[BalloonzForU]

AAARRRRRGGGGG All day she laid right where the eggs were, didn't move, except to give me a dirty look when I took the eggs and gave her some supers. I'll give you one guess as to her location now!

 

[gko reptiles]

Making a smaller box full of lay-box material is a good idea, but I would be careful about moving the gravid female too much. In Tremper's book it says not to do that because the females may become egg-bound due to the overwhelming stress of moving around so much. Then again if it works for your female, all the power to ya!! Be careful though, just watch her and make sure the pregnancy goes as planned

 

[Gregg M]

She's a big girl and I can't really put more than one hide in her tub

Felicia,
Her floor space will be the tops of the lay boxes as well... Marcias idea is good but I just dont think it is a good idea to keep an adult leo on a humid substrate for any extended period of time...

 

[Brian O]

I don't like the idea of stressing the female out to ensure you get eggs. It is a problem that will need to be addressed sooner or later anyways. I also believe that stress to the mother affects the the baby.
As for location of the lay box I have the lay boxes half on and half off of the heated side. It seems like your girl thinks its too hot in there.
If your houses are too small to accommodate any rearranging you need to look into larger houses.

 

[BalloonzForU]

If your houses are too small to accommodate any rearranging you need to look into larger houses.

It's not that she's too big for the tub, it's a 15qrt and she's 70g, the problem is that shes just about 10", she's very long, and it's hard for her to get into a hide that my 75g 8.5" girl to gets into. I can move her hide into different places in the tub, but not really add another. I think a larger tub would be too big for her by herself, for her to feel secure.