Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[adriankidd]

probably a silly question but do female lizards produce eggs needing to be fertilized or are the produced after mating has occurred?

[Ailurus]

after mating occurs.
it is (most) fish in which the eggs are fertilised afterwards.

This is easy to tell because male lizards have a sex organ (well a pair of sex organs) called hemipenes. (however most male fish do not have a sex organ they just release sperm into the water, just because i feel like being clever, i thought i would mention that the only fish in which the male has a sex organ is livebearers as the male has a modivied anal fin called a gnopodium which is a hollow tube, well you know the rest)
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Tom

Snakes: :Pantherophis: :Coelognathus: :Lampropeltis: :Heterodon: :Antaresia:
Lizards: :Rhacodactylus: :Pogona: :Goniurosaurus:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Ailurus27

[Xx_JoJo_xX]

I was hoping this was to be a "chicken or the egg" question lol

I'm not too clued up on the whole reptile reproduction process but believe that usually to produce fertile eggs they need to have been mated and not necessarily recently as they can retain sperm.
Some females (not sure if it is species dependant or not) can produce eggs when they have not been mated but these eggs will be infertile and I dont think they can fertilized once produced. ie if a female looks gravid and then you mate her I think you're likely to still get infertile eggs.
And there are some rare cases (in snakes mostly I think) where an unmated female has produced fertile eggs asexually.

Thats the best answer I got! Don't know if it answers your question but it give me something to do at least!
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[Ailurus]

i believe asexually reproduction happens mostly in monitor lizards (varanus sp.) and a few snakes, actually i think there is one species where there are no males
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Tom

Snakes: :Pantherophis: :Coelognathus: :Lampropeltis: :Heterodon: :Antaresia:
Lizards: :Rhacodactylus: :Pogona: :Goniurosaurus:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Ailurus27

[adriankidd]

yeah, i think that covers it, glad my silly questions keep you entertained jojo, that's the way i thought it worked but just thought id throw the question into the universe

[Xx_JoJo_xX]

[kinyonga]

There is one species of chameleon that is reported to reproduce by parthenogenesis (no need of a male).

Mourning geckos also reproduce by parthenogenesis...and there are quite a few more that can. Did anyone read about the Komodo dragon producing without having been mated?

JoJo...if a female chameleon produces eggs without mating, they are not able to be fertilized after. If the female is mated when she is producing eggs already, then some of the first clutch will be infertile and some fertile....or all the eggs will be infertile and she will more quickly than normal lay the next clutch which could be all fertile. (Nothing is written in stone!) I don't know of any lizard where the eggs can be fertilized after being laid.

[Xx_JoJo_xX]

Cool Thanks! Like I said, I dont know much about reptile reproduction.. always good to learn new stuff!!
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[adriankidd]

i dont think my question was clear enough,, i didnt mean can the eggs be fertilized after laying i meant are the fertile eggs produced in the uterus of the female only after mating or are they produced in the uterus and then fertilized once she has been mated? i hope that sounds right

[kinyonga]

This is for reptiles in general...but I expect it applies to chameleons too.
"Internal fertilization is obviously a requirement for a shelled egg, because the sperm must reach the egg before the egg is enclosed. The glandular walls of the oviducts secrete albumin (source of amino acids, minerals, and water for the embryo) and shells for the large eggs."
http://www.botany.unp.ac.za/notes/char.htm