Egg size difference between clutches?

[Northstar Herp]

I have four clutches from one female right now, and there is a substantial difference between the egg sizes. I don't mean just that #1 is bigger than #4, actually, #2 is probably 30% larger than all the rest and #3 is the smallest of the all.

I'm not really getting at anything deeper than this, I just wonder if anybody else has ever noticed this and has any theories on why it would be?

 

[Gregg M]

Egg size can vary even in the same clutch... I would say you are not seeing anything abnormal at all...

For the record, a larger egg does not mean a larger hatchling...

 

[Northstar Herp]

Egg size can vary even in the same clutch... I would say you are not seeing anything abnormal at all...

For the record, a larger egg does not mean a larger hatchling...

Thanks for the answer, Gregg. Still, it's weird though...

 

[T-ReXx]

Yeah, I see different sized eggs all the time. Doesn't ever seem to be any particular pattern to it and it has no effect on hatchlings. As far as to why it happens, I'm not really sure. Theres probably some link to the actual size of a female's reproductive tract(possibly the ovaduct itself) but all that's just theory.

 

[Northstar Herp]

Yeah, I see different sized eggs all the time. Doesn't ever seem to be any particular pattern to it and it has no effect on hatchlings. As far as to why it happens, I'm not really sure. Theres probably some link to the actual size of a female's reproductive tract(possibly the ovaduct itself) but all that's just theory.

Could that be the cause if all the eggs came from the same female?

 

[T-ReXx]

Could that be the cause if all the eggs came from the same female?

I believe so. Oviducts aren't uniform, even in the same animal. It's very possible one would be wider/larger than the other, allowing either a) more eggs of smaller size to form/pass or b) fewer eggs of larger size to form/pass. I'm sure there are other areas to be considered as influences; how long the female retains the egg before passing it, diet, metabolic processes, calcium levels, and to an extent genetics. At any rate, it's not something that will effect the egg viability/hatchling size or the amount of eggs a female produces.