I bred my female Ghost about 3 weeks ago; she was 6+ weeks adult and the male was about 2 weeks adult, both were 'virgins'. The male stayed hooked up for about 5 hours; I separated them later after he had disconnected because I was worried about losing my only male.
She was fat and gravid and started trying to lay several day later but all she could produce was a 3mm drop of what looked like green putty. She tried several times more and always left the same drop of green putty, sometimes drawn out into a .25" tail. I was worried about her becoming eggbound so I moved her to a better cage with higher humidity and more egg laying sites. She ate and drank normally but although 'assuming the position', she never laid an ooth. Sometimes she would hang her abdomen off to the side at a funny angle. I eventually moved her back to her regular cage.
Last night I saw that her posterior was covered with either frass or ooth material and the side/top of her abdomen had ruptured with a green-black mass on the outside. She still walks around normally but I know she's not going to get better and will go into the freezer soon. I know what I need to do but I'm delaying while she is still walking and acting normal.
FWIW Her other 2 sisters:
- one never bred but was around the male and subsequently laid 2 large (2" and 1"+) infertile ooths before the male was ready to try again. I bred her last night and all seems well.
- the other bred with the male and has laid several .5" to .75" ooths, about 5 of them so far.
She was fat and gravid and started trying to lay several day later but all she could produce was a 3mm drop of what looked like green putty. She tried several times more and always left the same drop of green putty, sometimes drawn out into a .25" tail. I was worried about her becoming eggbound so I moved her to a better cage with higher humidity and more egg laying sites. She ate and drank normally but although 'assuming the position', she never laid an ooth. Sometimes she would hang her abdomen off to the side at a funny angle. I eventually moved her back to her regular cage.
Last night I saw that her posterior was covered with either frass or ooth material and the side/top of her abdomen had ruptured with a green-black mass on the outside. She still walks around normally but I know she's not going to get better and will go into the freezer soon. I know what I need to do but I'm delaying while she is still walking and acting normal.
FWIW Her other 2 sisters:
- one never bred but was around the male and subsequently laid 2 large (2" and 1"+) infertile ooths before the male was ready to try again. I bred her last night and all seems well.
- the other bred with the male and has laid several .5" to .75" ooths, about 5 of them so far.
