my savannah monitor is a female, who knew?!

i have had Gunter my savannah monitor for going on 2 years, coulda sworn he was a male. in December i got an adult "female" sav to form a breeding pair. after a few weeks i kept them together and i noticed my sav gaining weight then acting very sluggish. i thought it was just "him" being stressed from the new sav. (i thought for sure he was a male so i did not think eggs)

anyway, he got a bit worse so i stuck him in a 75 gallon tank over night to keep my eye on him. i checked on him today and HOLY CRUD!!! he was super skinny! like, i could see his hip bones sticking out! i looked in the hide he was temporarily in and there were 6 eggs. i immediately put "him" back into his original enclosure(a 300 gallon water trough while i am building an 8x6x6 tank in the garage for them) within 5 minutes "he" layed another (the bright white one you see) i've been rushing to get an incubator, and now they are all setup incubating.

heres a link to my main post (with pictures) on varanustalk.com: http://www.varanustalk.com/forum/sho...-This-happened

Neat! Sorta got what ya wanted just in reverse :D

Trust me, it's been a crazy day! at the moment there are 10 eggs, of which, only two look really nice and healthy. I'm unsure if they are fertile or not, but fingers crossed!

Yeah, I was expecting the other way around and after their enclosure update completed. Oh well, the deed is done. (Unless she lays any more). I'm scheduling a vet visit for later this week to double check that she has gotten all the eggs out.

As of today, he has layer 21 eggs!!! Of which only 5 look promising, but they're all in the incubator.

Are monitors like igs at all? Iguanas go through a breeding season and the females will lay eggs once a year whether they're fertile or not (a bit like chickens, only in one big clump at once instead of one every day or every other day for a good chuck of the year). Even if the eggs look good I would candle them to see if they're even fertile, sound like the "guy" didn't get a lot of time with Gunter.

I'm not sure about iguanas at all cuz I have never kept one. But I believe they do lay eggs fertile or not. I am unsure whether or not they are fertile. The two have been kept together for about 2 months and it takes between 3 and 4 weeks from mating for the female to lay the eggs. So they have been together long enough.

I have not candles them, I do not know how. I will take any tips though! (This is my first time actually breeding a reptile)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniel.michelle

I have not candles them, I do not know how. I will take any tips though! (This is my first time actually breeding a reptile)

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Shine a small flashlight into the egg. You're looking for veins.

Thank you so much, I've gotta wait till I get home first. Fingers are crossed!

Let us know what happens!

So as of today the total egg count is at 29. 1 he smushed and 7 I had to toss out because they were obviously not good and rotten smelling. (it's ok, I'm just hoping for a few to hatch, it's also just a learning experience and not for money. Plus I'm running out of room in my incubator lol) So I have 21 possible good eggs.

As for candling, in monitors I was told that it can take up to 2 weeks before you can tell whether or not they are fertile or not. So I will update that in a few weeks. (Fallow this on varanustalk, I'm updating more regularly on there)

Well since it was mentioned, as far as I'm aware monitors don't really have much of a breeding season in captivity, or at least it doesn't come with the psychotic hormonal issues that igs can have. Not really sure if there's a certain time of year for them, I know my ackies seem to get in the mood at least a couple times a year, sometimes 3 times.
Oh, forgot to add that igs and savs at least are similar in that they can and will become gravid even in the absence of a male, and may either lay or re-absorb the eggs.