Can you....

[thegeckoguy]

I know this is probably the stupidest question ever but i was wondering, can you slit leo eggs like you do with snake eggs?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

It's not a stupid question at all. But, it's not something I recommend. I have 'pipped' leopard geckos eggs that are overdue, and quite frankly I don't have the right answer.

There have been times I opened an egg only to find a dead baby... and wondered if I had opened it earlier if the baby would have survived. There have been occasions where the second egg didn't hatch within a couple of days of the first clutchmate, and I pipped the egg only to find a preemie that winds up dying, and may have survived if I let it go a few days more. There have also been lots of times that I opened an egg to find a bunch of goo with an eyeball staring at me... or find nothing but coagulated yolk.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, that it's usually best to let it be. If the baby isn't strong enough to get out of it's egg, then perhaps it is nature's way of culling weak geckos. Just because we don't have the patience to wait does not give us permission to intervene.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I'm probably echoing Marcia's comments but I think it's best to leave eggs alone. I've also pipped eggs and found preemies that didn't make it and pipped eggs and found babies that hadn't gone full term and died in the egg. Either way I would have been better off waiting to see if they hatched on their own or if they weren't going to hatch, just letting them go bad. I hope that helps.

 

[thegeckoguy]

ok thanks guys. I didnt want to nor was i going to do it but i was just wondering. Thanks