need some help with one of my leo's

[Sheldon & Tori]

hey everyone, i have a couple questions regarding my little albino leo.....she is housed with one other female and a male.......now, her stomach has doubled in size recently and there is a white oval on one side of her under-belly.....she is about 6 mos. old and weighs about 20-30grams.....the male she is housed with is about 7-8 months old and weighs between 40 and 50 grams........is it possible that my albino female is pregnant? if so, is it going to be dangerous for her being so young and all? if you could answer these questions for us that would be great. oh, and if you need a pic to tell if she is pregnant or not, just let us know and we'll take one as soon as possible.

thnx,
s & t

[Youkai]

It is DEFFINATELY a possibility that she is gravid, and yes it is dangerous. Separate her.

As soon as you can tell a male is a male he should not be housed with females. The reason is, it can stunt a female's growth, or she can go eggbound if she is too young. So again, separate her, feed her super well, and keep a close eye on her.

Leos should in general not be bred until they are a year old and at least 45grams. So keep the sexes apart...

[Sheldon & Tori]

youkai ---> good to know....i've read that males can be kept with females, but i didn't know that. is it still ok to house 5 females together? obviously in a 50 g or more tank.

thnx,
s & t

[Youkai]

You can house multiple females together, yep. Just make sure they are well fed, and have lots of hiding places. Some females will dominate others though, and you'd need to remove animals who are under stress because of that.

[Sheldon & Tori]

ok, i got another question, one of my leo's hides under the water dish and rarely comes out.....is that a sign of stress?

[Zoe]

Males can be kept with females, but obviously not if the male is sexually mature and the female is sexually mature, but not big enough to handle eggs. It takes a LOT of energy and fat/calcium reserves to produce eggs and some females don't recover from the loss - or become egg bound and die.

Females can be kept together, but I don't know if I'd keep 5 of them together. Even if the tank is pretty big, leos are really social animals and if forced to share the same feeding/sleeping/shedding environment could stress them out. You probably wouldn't have any problems, but you may want to keep 3 in a 50 gal (I keep two in a 35 gal and it works quite well).

Ditto what Youkai said... seperate her and feed her wax worms, silkworms and crickets. Avoid feeding mealworms at this time.

Also, if you want a pic, go to www.roqufort.com/gex and into breeding.

Zoe

[Zoe]

As for the other question, about the female, she may just be shy or she may have no where else to go. What size tank is she in and with how many other leos?

Zoe

[Sheldon & Tori]

thnx zoe, i looked at the pic labelled "female with eggs" and Precious looks like that but as far as i could see it's only on one side of her belly.

another question, what behavioural changes occur with gravid females? do they just sit and bask all day or do they run around like mad lizards? cuz Precious hasn't really moved (except to eat and poop) from one rock slightly off to the side of the heat lamp for about three days now. also, she has become VERY friendly.....she used to be friendly but she would try to squirm out of your hands while you were lifting her out of the tank (once you got her out she would just sit on you stomach and explore).....now i can just reach in and pick her up and when i put her on my stomach she just lays there........um, should i be leaving the heat lamp on 24/7? it's an infrared spectrum so it shouldn't mess with day/night cycles.

thnx,
s & t

[Sheldon & Tori]

zoe ---> she's in a 40g with a male and my female....there are three hiding spots, four if you include under the water dish.....when she does come out from under the water dish she loves to spend her time in the moss hide....i think you may be right about being shy.....why you go to pick her up she kinda steps back like "what are you doing?" lol, so it's good to know that she is probably just shy.

[Neo]

oh make sure to leave a dish of calcium out for that gravid female. cause she's so young she'll need that calcium to make a good egg shell and support herself. as for the one under the dish. when leos get older they get pretty lazy and may not wanna go out