This little baby just hatched tonight from an egg I found in my “single ladies” community tank. There is one female, Luna, in there that I retired back in March/April (approximate) that I found out was much older and I didn’t want to push her to breed into an unhealthy age. Before retiring, she was paired with my male, Dread Gecko Roberts, who is from Darkside Geckos and one of our family favorites for his high contrast, blue-green undertones when fired-down, ink spots, and his sweet demeanor.
I found two eggs at random in the single ladies tank at the end of July, one was definitely a dud and had collapsed, but this one looked viable!
I wish I had taken photos of it right out of the egg because it was so dark and I could not yet see these ink blots!
Let me know your thoughts, I took the pictures as best as I could with my phone, so the quality is not great. I cannot think of anything medically that would make such markings and the baby is active and responsive, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.
Looks like a cluster of inkblots to me. However it’s eyes look very dark, are they red? If so it might have eye issues, if not red then it might just be dark eyes.
Might know more when a little bigger, esp with spots
I don’t have an exact year of birth from the breeder (there were some issues with communication and I finally gave up trying), my best estimate is that she was born somewhere around 2012-2014 based off pictures from the breeder’s facebook page. I have enough females so I figured I would stop trying to breed her - especially since she started producing only one egg at a time.
That being said, this baby makes me want to pull her from the single ladies cage and put her back with my male!
Oh right I see.
1 egg would be as she’s getting older I assume, but then again I will randomly get 1 egg from my girls who are young. So I wouldn’t really say that’s why 1 egg as can just happen. But she’s a beaut! In the wild they will keep laying until they die, so 15/20 years old. So when I see people saying they’re retiring have got to ask the age!
My oldest girl is 7/8 now and is the best layer I have, she’s just so routine about it! Usually last to lay at the end of the season too, she goes an extra month. Also never drops weight bad, and always a chunk! So I know she probably won’t ever stop.
Plus the last male she was with, she held sperm for over 3 years. So if I were to stop pairing her now she’d still lay until she’s 10/11.
Makes her seem ‘old’ then haha.
I’d say she might have a few years left in her, although as she was paired earlier this year and has only produced one egg this year, surely that’s a sign she is getting ready to retire.
If it was my gecko, I’d consider seeing if she drops any more eggs and seeing how they develop as well as how she handles the process before I’d consider continuing to breed her, esp if she holds the sperm for 3 more years. It could take a lot out of her which is why she only laid one so far.
