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Leopard gecko possibly pregnant

22 11:40:41

Question
QUESTION: Hello!
About a week ago I adopted a 2 year old leopard gecko. When I picked her up the breeder informed me thathe thinks that she is carrying eggs as she was bred with a male.
He explained to me how much she usually eats, and I have noticed that her appetite has drastically diminished. She has been spending a lot of time in her moist hide when she would usually go to her normal hide.
I look at her belly but it is really hard for me to tell. I have built an incubator and I'm all ready for eggs, but I'm beginning to worry that she may not be pregnant. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hello Melissa,

Do you know how far along she could be if she is carrying a few little eggs?  Do you have a picture of her & has her belly gotten any larger?
They will stop eating a week or so prior to laying, most of the time.
Also, you could try to get a fecal done on her, in case she may have worms or parasites.  They will experience relocation stress when being moved to a new home also.  Did she eat initially upon bringing her home or not?
What type of setup do you have for her, do you have a warm spot of around 88-90 for her too on one end of the tank?  
Does she seem to be losing any weight though, or not?
Let me know how she is doing.

Tracie

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Skittles 2
Skittles 2  
Skittles
Skittles  
QUESTION: Hi Tracie,

The breeder said to expect eggs in 2-3 weeks and this was just over a week ago. I haven't noticed much change in her belly, but I could look again. She has lost some weight but not too much. She has a very warm portion of the tank where her moist hide is. She has a bowel movement about once per day and they are not runny at all.
She is in a 10 gallon terrarium with reptile carpet, a hide on the cool side, a moist hide on the warm side, a couple of smooth rocks, and a water dish.

ANSWER: Hello Melissa,

She sure is a little cutie pie!  :-)
It is very hard to tell from those pictures.  They are very small souls, so the eggs wont be large either.  However, you should be able to see a visible outline of them when they are carrying eggs.  Once they drop, their belly will appear to look like a pear shaped belly.  LOL
Since she isn't eating anything, go ahead & try to intervene a little bit right now.  
Get some chicken, turkey or beef baby food, mixing it with a bit of calcium next.  Then use either a plastic dropper or plastic syringe to drop food onto the end of her nose.  She should like the smell/taste of it & hopefully will lick some off of her nose.
Be sure to leave powdered calcium out in a dish for her so she can lick the calcium as she feels it is needed.  That way if she is developing eggs then she wont be low in calcium reserves.

Let me know how that goes for her & how she is doing.

Tracie

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Baby bump?
Baby bump?  

Baby bump 2
Baby bump 2  
QUESTION: I did a little photo shoot with her yesterday. Her belly does seem to be quite engorged. I also noticed what looked like possibly a second set of eggs making their way down (small white spots on the side of her belly?).
I did some more research on foods for her, and I went out to get some chunky worms that would move a lot. I got some silkworms and she loved them!!! I still make sure that there are some crickets in with her (gut loaded and dusted of course), and yesterday was the first time in a while that she had some of them.
I always have a popcap full of calcium in the tank with her and I empty and refill it once a week.
I can't express how much I appreciate your help and support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Melissa

Answer
Hello Melissa,

She does have a little roundness to her belly!  :-)  She is so pretty.
The eggs should be visible outlines underneath of the skin, yes.  Poor thing, I wonder how many she is carrying.  
That's great she loved the silkworms, they are nice & soft for them.  Be sure the crickets don't stay in for too long, as they can bite her if she doesn't eat them.  
Good, she will definitely need the calcium!  I am anxious to see how much longer it will take her to lay.  They don't usually lay more than 2-3 eggs at a time!  
I am happy to help, but it looks like you solved all of the problems!  Keep me posted on her progress.

Talk soon.
Tracie