Rescued eggs

Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
Today after work i decided to mow the nature strip, was mowing near the fence when the blades kicked up a rock and it wasnt till i was on the way back that i cought a glimps of a number of white eggs.

I quickly shut of the mower and took a closer look, sadly 2 ot of 5 eggs well..... didnt make it. when the mower blades kicked up the rock that was covering them it must have sqashed them. It was heartbraking to see that their were baby geckos inside, poor little buggers....... Athough i have limited knowledge on incubateing eggs i took it apon myself to do my best to gives these 3 little guys or girls a chance at life. I verry gently picked them up and placed them in a small tupaware tub (eggs facing the exact same way they were when i found them ) with moistend eco earth as i havnt any perlite, they are nested in the center on a fairly dry patch. the tub is now inside a makeshift, heated incubater.

now comes the wating game, i don't have the money to buy the needed equpment, im a personal trainer and its nearing cristmas so not only is work slow this time of year but christmas shopping dosnt leave me with much to go splurge on the needed equipment but any advice would be apreaciated.

I dont get broadband connection back till next week so pics will have to wait till then im afraid.

-

Darren
 
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Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
Thanks Aliza,

No, i havnt a clue what kind they are yet. I will keep updating this thread though and will hopefully be able to post some pics next week.

Dose what ive done so far sound ok? as i stated before my knowledge on incubation is limited as all of my reptiles are de sexed being that ive never intended to breed so this is a first for me.
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,119
Location
Somerville, MA
The only possible problem is not knowing the proper incubation temperature for whatever species of gecko you have. Two solutions would be to do some google searches for native australian geckos, what temps are recommended and pick an intermediate one or to stick a probe into a hole in the same place you found the eggs at the same approximate depth and find out what the temp is.

Aliza
 

GrimmyX15

Mkay-um?
Messages
761
Location
IL
wait ,you said baby geckos inside? D: so did you see anything of it? shape and looks and stuff or colors? maybe could help you find the exact kind of gecko
 

Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
Yes, there were babie geckos inside, altough i didnt care to look at them for long for reasons preveisly stated but they did apear to have the features of an arboreal gecko.

There are quite a number of native arboreals so it wont be easy to find specific incubation info.

I will do a soil test on the patch of ground i found them on though so i can get an idea of the temps they should be on.

Thanks-

Darren
 

Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
Hey,

I do believe i have made a mistake in identifying these eggs and overlooked a few things.

1. Native geckos only lay 2 and none of the local species nest communally.

2. Although i did take a look at the eggs that were in pretty bad shape and saw what at first appeared to be a gecko, i now believe these to be Skink eggs.

They are small and soft shelled and am told by a mate of mine who has bread many species of reptiles for over 20 or so years that what i am doing should suffice. Time will tell.

Pics of the eggs coming next week. Hopefully these little guys or gals will hatch soon so i can find out what species of skink they are, i have a little tank set up already and have plenty of food so fingers crossed hey.
 

Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
Just thought i would add that i did do a temp test on the ground/soil where i found them, It was damp and only barely warm but as i previously mentioned there was a rock covering them.

Rocks heat up in the sun and can hold that warmth for quite some time so to kind of recreate this diminishing warmth ive set the heat mat in my makeshift incubator to in between low and medium heat witch feels pretty much the same as the ground underneath another rock near by that i tested.
 

Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
Sad news im afraid...

Well, i gave it my best and my best wasn't enough. As i previously stated i have had no previous experience breeding as i am a keeper and have never intended to breed any of my reptiles.

I checked on the eggs before work today and found one of them had fur growing on it.

It has been exceptionally hot for days now and i feel being in a makeshift incubator the heat and condensation was too great (i did not have a heat mat on as it were not needed considering how hot its been)

I did check one of the eggs and found they were a striped skink fully formed, if not for this heat who knows they may have made it. I gotta say i am very disappointed. In the wild, uncovered they would have been preyed on.

I believed i could have given them better odds of survival but i guess sometimes you have to leave it for nature to decide. lesson learned.

I can still post pics of the eggs that i took right after i found them if you would like to see them.
 

GrimmyX15

Mkay-um?
Messages
761
Location
IL
Im sorry but good thing you tried to do everything to save them :) but it's just nature. i would like to see photos. :) Striped Skink Really? Is them common of pets or? D:
 

Yamori

Aussie Reptile Keeper
Messages
626
Location
Australia
G'day, thanks for the kind words. They were a Wall Skink (Cryptoblepharus virgatus) also sometimes referd to as the snake eyed skink, the common striped skink and the fence skink. lol allot of names for one skink hey.

Quite common around the east coast of Australia although not seen quite as often as they used to be most likely because of feral cats as well as the Asian house gecko as both are known to prey on them.
A close relative to the blue tailed skink witch not many people know.
here are a couple of pics of the wall skink -
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3790047689_5fd17910ba.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3799894965_25ab48f076.jpg

And here are a couple of pics of the eggs i tried to hatch -
Note: The container and coca fiber do appear very wet and were quite wet due to condensation but the middle where the eggs were laying was as dry as a bone.

2qs7769.jpg


30jk6qs.jpg
 

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