Female laying sympathy eggs with another female?

[wdcav]

Nature overrode our desire for babies when we got a female that ended up laying eggs. She's housed with a older female that has never been with a male while she's lived here for a year now.

But the female that's laying seems to be turning out eggs too fast. Example: On August 21st, I found a couple of fertile eggs and moved them to the egg box. Searched the box, nothing else was there. Tonight, the 30th, I saw peat roughed up and started digging thru the box. Sure enough, 2 eggs just 9 days after finding the last ones. This was the second time this has happened.

Here's our track record so far: 1st set of eggs didn't form right, 2nd clutch was laid May 10th and hatched August 4th, 3rd clutch is exactly a month behind and about a week from hatching, #4 has about one and a half months still, #5 popped up less then two weeks after #4 and were both duds, I found #6 clutch on August 21 - both fertile. Tonight I find mystery #7 eggs, not fertile.

So either the female that's been laying is popping out infertile eggs two weeks after laying fertile eggs, or the other female she's housed with is laying in some kind of weird sympathy pains. Aside from the first set, all the eggs that appear a month after the last fertile eggs have all been fertile. It's the two week or less eggs each time that have been duds.

[Saucy]

Could definitely be dud eggs from the other female. I dunno, I can tell the difference between my ladies' eggs now... I'd see if you can catch one in the act. That way you'll know either way.

[scrletbegonias]

sometimes females lay nonfertile eggs even if they are not bred. maybe its someting in the air that made them both egg machines??

[Saucy]

You haven't been playing Barry White, have you?

[wdcav]

Could definitely be dud eggs from the other female. I dunno, I can tell the difference between my ladies' eggs now... I'd see if you can catch one in the act. That way you'll know either way.

The common thing with the two sets of duds that I noticed are that the eggs are longer looking and less full around the middle. Instead of being shaped like an egg, they are long and skinny like a tic-tac. Wonder if that's because they are coming from the other female?


So then I'm not crazy and it's possible the other female is laying? Is it because she's picking up on hormones from the other female or something?


Also, I've never been able to catch either of them laying. Very secretive these geckos.

[Charlie Brown]

You haven't been playing Barry White, have you?

lol

[Antoniorocko]

i think that's completely feasible since women living together can get in the same "cycle" due to horomones they give off. maybe the hormones she is giving off is triggering egg development in the other female.

[wdcav]

"

i think that's completely feasible since women living together can get in the same "cycle" due to horomones they give off. maybe the hormones she is giving off is triggering egg development in the other female.

That cycle thing is kind of what I was getting at it, but I didn't know how to word it in a way that didn't make me sound strange.

[Sublime Reptiles]

I believe there are several of us on the board who have the same thing going on. I house 3 of my 4 girls together. Two have been bred this year, the other I have held off on. Well the two girls have laid 2 clutches each, the other felt left out...lol I found her one night in the lay box, digging around.The next morning I found 2 eggs. Nothing different in size with them, I tried incubating them, just incase they happened to be one of the other girls. My girls are known for going and digging around in the box even when not gravid. So if you ask me, it is completely possible.