Candling, fetus movement, and incubation times/temperatures.

[JordanAng420]

Hi there everybody! Last month, I hatched my first gecko, a Nova, at approx. 86.5 degrees, and 41 days. Currently, I have 4 eggs in the incubator. The oldest two eggs were laid on July 7, two days from today being exactly 21 days. This clutch is incubating at 87 degrees. Today was the first time I have candled these eggs, and I have found that the fetus is moving around already, quite rapidly! I know i'm not seeing things, and with the last baby that hatched for me, I could only start seeing the movement in the last week of incubation or so. Should I expect these eggs sooner than when I imagined?? Or is it normal to see movement of the fetus after 21 days of development?

Thanks!

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I have never actually compared movement to hatch date but I would presume the time in the incubator to be about the same for this comparison. There may be a few reasons for that egg to hatch a couple days sooner. If the female held the eggs longer in her before laying, those added days will be deducted from incubation time. Also that slight of a temp increase really wont play much of a role in earlier hatch date, although it may add up to a day or so. At about 3 weeks my egg I just candled doesn't have very much movement going on, although the fetus is present and pronounced.