Egg Binding

[el8ch]

Hey All,

One of my wife's leopard geckos has been carrying two visible eggs for roughly 6 weeks now. We haven't had one hold eggs this long before and were wondering what steps should be taken... Leave her, enduce labor, etc.

Anyone else encounter this? Any suggestions would be great...

Thanks

[heathers*bps]

Does she have a proper lay box? Plenty of calcium?
Is she having symptoms of dystocia? Is she straining, lethargic, bloated stomach, loss of appetite? Maybe even a prolapse? Pics would be helpful.

If you say yes to any of these, you need to get her to the vet ASAP.

[Homegrownscales]

I agree. At this point a vet check may be necessary to aspirate the eggs so she can pass them.


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[sleepygeckos]

3rd vote for the vet check - at least to make sure the eggs are fully formed and indeed stuck, as well as the general health of her ovaries. GL

[el8ch]

Does she have a proper lay box? Plenty of calcium?
Is she having symptoms of dystocia? Is she straining, lethargic, bloated stomach, loss of appetite? Maybe even a prolapse? Pics would be helpful.

If you say yes to any of these, you need to get her to the vet ASAP.

Yeah she has a lay box and calcium. She is still eating, but does seem more lethargic then she usually does. We made an appointment at the exotics clinic so we will see what the next course of action is.

Thanks for your replies.

[heathers*bps]

Yeah she has a lay box and calcium. She is still eating, but does seem more lethargic then she usually does. We made an appointment at the exotics clinic so we will see what the next course of action is.

Thanks for your replies.

Please keep us up to date on her! I hope all turns out well.

[heathers*bps]

Has she laid her eggs yet? Seen the vet?

[el8ch]

Has she laid her eggs yet? Seen the vet?

Hi Heather...

No eggs yet, we took her to a reptile specialist and had a full exam and eventually an ultrasound. She is not egg bound and we were told that the eggs are healthy and developed. The vet that we dealt with is actually a breeder as well and gave us a lot of helpful insight as to what may be the problem. He suspected that she may be slightly calcium deficient so we are going to be switching our gut load and we gave her a calcium supplement to try and help her along.

Since she is still energetic, has bright color and is generally acting as she normally would with the exception of being a little bit more picky with food we will be changing a few things in our husbandry.

We had a lay box for her with Eco-earth as a laying medium which she didn't seem to like so we have switched that to vermiculite. She seems to like it better already and we have seen her digging where as she never dug in the old lay box. We have also changed our substrate from beta chips paper towl for the time being and have added a UVB light. I know UVB lights are controversial when it comes to whether or not geckos need them, but at this point we are ready to give anything a go to get her comfortable and laying.

Basically we were told that we still have a healthy girl and that being her first time she may just not know what to do. We have a follow-up appointment scheduled if she doesn't lay within the next week or so to check the eggs again to see if she is absorbing or if the state of the eggs or her health has changed.

Thanks for your concern and for checking up on her... On a bonus note though my female pewter came off a 4 month hunger strike tonight, phew.

[heathers*bps]

Hi Heather...

No eggs yet, we took her to a reptile specialist and had a full exam and eventually an ultrasound. She is not egg bound and we were told that the eggs are healthy and developed. The vet that we dealt with is actually a breeder as well and gave us a lot of helpful insight as to what may be the problem. He suspected that she may be slightly calcium deficient so we are going to be switching our gut load and we gave her a calcium supplement to try and help her along.

Since she is still energetic, has bright color and is generally acting as she normally would with the exception of being a little bit more picky with food we will be changing a few things in our husbandry.

We had a lay box for her with Eco-earth as a laying medium which she didn't seem to like so we have switched that to vermiculite. She seems to like it better already and we have seen her digging where as she never dug in the old lay box. We have also changed our substrate from beta chips paper towl for the time being and have added a UVB light. I know UVB lights are controversial when it comes to whether or not geckos need them, but at this point we are ready to give anything a go to get her comfortable and laying.

Basically we were told that we still have a healthy girl and that being her first time she may just not know what to do. We have a follow-up appointment scheduled if she doesn't lay within the next week or so to check the eggs again to see if she is absorbing or if the state of the eggs or her health has changed.

Thanks for your concern and for checking up on her... On a bonus note though my female pewter came off a 4 month hunger strike tonight, phew.

I'm glad to hear that all is well! I, too, use vermiculite in my lay boxes, and my girls seem to want to dig to China with it . I keep hearing more and more on UV lights for leos, so I say if it helps, why not? As for the calcium, I leave a milk jug cap full of calcium in with my girls ( and boys too! ) so they can help themselves to it anytime they want. Idk if you do that now, but if not its a suggestion. I hope she lays 2 nice eggs for you soon, and come back and update what's going on with her.

And yay for your pewter eating!!!