Infertile eggs. Please help

[jgolden4958]

We bought a female gargoyle gecko from a reptile expo in April and last night she laid her second infertile egg. I'm really worried because I can't find a whole lot online about it. If I type in egg at all it just sends me to a breeding site. There are no males in the house at all. All the reptiles we have are female. Is this going to keep happening? It scares me that we don't know when she's producing an egg. Any sort of info would be appreciated because I am freaking out.

 

[AbigailRBD]

Hey Jgolden! First questions first, how old is your gargoyle? Many arboreal geckos like gargoyles or cresties can retail sperm from previous breedings for several months. If there was a change that your gecko was housed with males, that could be a reason. They may not be fertile because of the geckos health or the environment.

On the other hand, many reptiles will simply lay infertile eggs. You see that in bearded dragons and chameleons a lot. It's generally something that happens a few times a year, not strictly monthly. If your female is continuously producing eggs, feed her a nutrient rich diet, with quality Pangea food (some of the best stuff on the market!), phoenix and butterworms, roaches, etc.

Don't freak out, it's not an uncommon occurrence How are you checking whether or the eggs are infertile? I ask that because, if she was housed with a male before you picked her up at the expo, there's a chance that they're viable. Maybe, maybe not. Hopefully this helps!

 

[jgolden4958]

The guy said she was an adult, didn't know the age but I'm assuming that means she's older than a year. We looked up online what fertile vs infertile looked like and ours are always not really formed, the last one looked like an old jellybean, and when we put a light to it there's nothing that looks like it's in it. We've had her for over 5 months and all she's been eating is the Pangea and an occasional cricket. She's well taken care of. I just feel horrible. She gets so moody. And I don't know how to make her feel better.

 

[AbigailRBD]

I'm glad to hear that you genuinely care for her Wish more people were like you! Do you know what the temperatures are in her terrarium? If you could post a picture or two of her setup, we could go over it and see if there are any ways of making her more comfortable. Gargoyles do love their insects a bit more than cresties (although they can equally voracious) so you can try giving her more variety there!

 

[jgolden4958]

I just recently figured out how to put pictures up and I haven't quite figured it out on my phone yet. Her temps are around 80. We don't let it get any colder than 74. And no hotter than 85. She's in a 12x12x18. The tall front opening one. She's got a custom background to climb on with 2 fake vines climbing up the side, a cork bark log and zoo med coconut fiber substrate (that's what the guy told me to get).

 

[AbigailRBD]

No problem! Thanks for sharing the details of the setup. You can easily drop the temperatures by 2-3 degrees, so she has a change of 72-82. They don't mild the cool temperatures at all. What is your humidity at? How often are you misting the enclosure? The background, decor, and substrate sound great! Custom backgrounds are fantastic I would recommend that you upgrade the enclosure to an 18x18x24". 12x12x18 is really small for an adult and is much better suited to raising hatchling or juvenile gargoyles in. If you upgrade her to a larger enclosure, she'll be 10x more comfortable! Does she have a name?

 

[jgolden4958]

Her name is Zelda. We mist her really well at night and it keeps the humidity between 60-70% the rest of the next day. We also have a little "mushroom ledge" for her to climb on the one side.

 

[AbigailRBD]

Nice! Zelda is such a great name. Do you use the mushroom ledges made by Zoo Med? I've noticed that geckos LOVE them! Plus they look remarkably naturalistic (if you can forget the silicone on the side)

 

[jgolden4958]

Yes! She does love it. We got it for half off because it didn't have the silicone so we got some outdoor double sided tape that holds it up really well. I didn't think she would like it so much.

 

[jgolden4958]

She just layed another egg. Should I take her to the vet?