eggbound with 3 eggs!!!

Golden Gate Geckos

Mean Old Gecko Lady
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12,731
Location
SF Bay Area
I had to take my RAPTOR female in to the vet because she was eggbound, and she was not doing well at all. She lost over 20 grams in less than a week! Anyway, Dr. Harkewicz performed surgery to remove not two, but three eggs!!! Fortunatley, he was able to save her reproductive organs so she will be able to breed again next season. He saved the 3 eggs in a pill bottle for me... none were fertile.

Imagine a 3-egg clutch???
 
W

Welsh

Guest
Phew, close one. Thats a redicolous loss of weight.

Get into chat for once GGG! :)

Glad she is alright.
 

Golden Gate Geckos

Mean Old Gecko Lady
Messages
12,731
Location
SF Bay Area
Well... my vet doesn't charge me what he charges the general public. He used to... but now his rationale is that I am one of the few breeders that actually will take my geckos in to be treated, and he has similar ethics to mine! He came in early on the day before his vacation to perform this emergency surgery, and charged me a total of $186 for:

- exotic animal office visit (usually $55-65)
- emergency fee ($65)
- 3 days of boarding ($18/day for exotics)
- 2 calcium/oxytocin injections ($12/ea.)
- surgery w/anesthesia (usually around $360)
- Baytril injection ($16)
- 10-day supply of Baytril ($24)
- follow-up visit and suture removal

My vet is a reptile/amphibian specialist. He is on the Board of Directors for the ARAV (Amphibian and Reptile Association of Veterinarians), was in a private consultations practice with Dr. Frederic L. Frye (the world's most reputable reptile pathologist), and is a consulting veterinarian for the Oakland Zoo's Exotics Dept., and the staff vet for the East Bay Vivarium.

When I first went to see him, he was hurried and charged me a LOT!!! Over the years we have developed a good rapport, and he has come to know how much I love my reptiles, and only charges me what he can get away with!

Sooooo... I imagine it would cost in the range of $350-500 for a procedure like this, and he was able to spare my beautiful gecko's reproductive organs, which I don't think many vets can do. This is the thrid time he has performed this type of surgery on my geckos in the past 7 years.

I am very fortunate to have him as my gecko's vet!!!
 

eyelids

Bells Rule!
Messages
10,728
Location
Wisconsin
Awww that poor female to lose so much weight that fast! Good thing she made it out ok. By the way was the 20 grams lost including the eggs removed? If not I hope she was a big girl...
 
W

Welsh

Guest
Golden Gate Geckos said:
All three eggs were the same size! My poor baby...

(I was in chat tonight... where were you, Brendan?)


Heh, I just missed you I guess.
 
L

LadyGecko

Guest
Marcia
I'm so glad that things worked out OK for her
I have been wondering at the possibility with todays generations of Leos being larger about the possibility of increased clutch size on a normal basis in the future
Any thoughts on the possibilities of this or is that just an isolated incident?

Sandy
 

Golden Gate Geckos

Mean Old Gecko Lady
Messages
12,731
Location
SF Bay Area
Sandy, the way a female leopard gecko's uterus and ovaries are structured is designed only for two eggs. It is not unusual for a female to have two eggs and two follicles developing behind them. In this case, she had two huge infertile eggs that should have been laid by the time the third follicle developed into an egg, but didn't. This usually only happens with infertiles, and is not common at all.

Somehow, it seems like the majority of problems of this nature I have experienced over the years occurred in geckos that were "new" morphs that have not been outcrossed enough yet... for example, my RAPTOR from Ron Tremper, and my Super Snow from John Mack, and my original Blizzards from Blizzard Lizard. It's just a hunch, though...
 

Jeanne

Abbie's Human
Messages
4,090
Location
Tyngsboro, MA
Marcia,

I am so sorry that you and your little girl had to go through that. But I am so glad that the Dr was able to save her organs! Yeah Dr. Harkewicz!
 
L

LadyGecko

Guest
aHHHHHHHH-Thanks for the explanation Marcia
I wish your little girl a speedy recovery
Sandy
 

robin

New Member
Messages
12,276
Location
Texas
i am so happy she is going to make a sucessfull recovery i know how worried you were about her
 

Golden Gate Geckos

Mean Old Gecko Lady
Messages
12,731
Location
SF Bay Area
She has eaten and pooped, so I hope she will make through the next 4 weeks before her stitches come out. She went into shed last night, so I snipped the skin around the incision because I had a female go through this very same thing several years ago, and she was doing very well until she went into shed. I found her with her uterus and intestines eviscerated... she has pulled out all of her stitches trying to get the skin off. Very tragic.
 

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