Losing pets is difficult. I, too, am very sorry for your loss. And I'm really happy that you discovered the seemingly 7 viable eggs your U lineatus has left behind, some in the bamboo and others in the incubator. Sounds like you are meeting the exacting requirements of a not-so-easy genus! More power to you and your gex!
My favorite Oedura castelnaui male (13 grams) just died quite suddenly right after midnight on 4/11. (Now O castelnaui are supposed to be hardy, so......) "His" female (15 grams) seems alright. About 11:45 PM I heard these terrible "death squeeks" and went to his cage (he and his mate had been warming up...temp-wise...since 3/28 from a late brumation). There were signs that both had eaten...3 of 4 crickets I placed in their cage the prior evening were gone. It seemed like he was gasping for air...maybe like he was choking. And he seemed uncoordinated. Well, I gavage fed him about .4 cc (in retrospect way too much) of Vanilla Boost (like Ensure). I think that made things worse, even though I inserted the needle all the way in, most probably past his lungs.) Then, and enroute to the after hours vet ER not far from me, I gave him m-t-m, but it was too late. The only response I got was a spontaneous opening of his mouth which I interpreted as "gasping" for air. The vet tried CPR and m-t-m, but she never got a heart beat. Within 15 min after hearing the squeeks he had probably died. Within 45 min of hearing the squeeks we were at the ER. May he rest in peace.
He's at the pathologist now for a necropsy and maybe a histology.
Perhaps he and his female mated prior to his death. Time will tell. Hopefully if there are no signs of eggs within 2 weeks, 4 weeks, I can place the female with a new partner.
But, Orion, I'm happy for you that you will have U. lineatus offspring to remember your female by!!
Elizabeth
Subj: [gecko]Uroplatus lineatus continued..hohoHO!!
Date: 4/12/03 9:32:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (orion ...)
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thanks Niel and Dilshad for you responses,
I would like to mention that in my previous post I had stated that "fate has
a dark sense of humour"...
Well I've come to believe that destinies jokes are far more original!!
Niel, when you stated that she was probably looking for a place to lay it
clicked,
all along I had been told that U.lineatus bury there eggs, well I have to
state that is not the case.
The length of bamboo in her original cage had a much greater diameter, I
would say four inches(the one that trapped her was about two and a half), so
I took a peek down the tube, THREE eggs dude!!
I mean these are perfect, I realize this species is one of the more
difficult to breed and certainly is not regarded as "prolific", the only
posts of captive bred that I've seen were one clutch or one infertile etc.
but three eggs in a clutch and four more "in the cooker" is truly cause for
excitement.
Needless to say I feel a whole lot better, despite her loss of life she
left behind what she was built for which is a nice thought, and I don't feel
as evil for buying a wild caught animal that never reproduced.
Well I suppose I should not count them before they hatch but unless I make a
blunder they all look pearly white and hard(by the way, the "rescued" eggs
that she was still carrying have gone bad, not quite ready for the outside
world..), however they are completely beyond my reach and I cannot cut up
the bamboo as it would really disturb them and probably roll them around, so
I'll have to hatch them "in situ",
please throw any ideas at me in this regard as I'm completely unaware of
gestation time etc. they must have been laid a few weeks ago so if I count
her death as the due date for the subsequent clutch than that gives a rough
idea of when I could expect them to hatch.
I suppose I'll have to cover the hole with gauze to contain the babies so
they don't become dad's dinner, but what does anyone think about humidity
requirements?
Anyway, thanks Dilshad for your offer, I'll be taking the film in this week,
plus I should take some shots of my new pearl collection! (these things are
huge, no wonder she was monster..)
I'll keep up on the progress,
later.
Orion.
