Fresh eggs laid on Easter!!!

[OVECHTRICK]

Hows it going everybody?

New to the forum but lets get started haha.

My female Leo laid her second clutch of eggs yesterday, which happened to be Easter Sunday! What're the odds?!?! My roommate and I were lucky enough to open her humid hide to see her digging and about 30 seconds later popped out two healthy eggs!

I was planning on setting up an incubator prior to yesterday, but have been super busy with the spring semester of college wrapping up.

But anyways, I rushed to Walmart (not by choice, but since it was the only establishment open on Easter, haha) and set up a nice little homemade incubator out of a Styrofoam cooler, a heat pad, some water bottles, aluminum foil, some perlite, a tupperware, and a thermometer. I was able to hook it up and had it temped at about 89F after 4 hours, hoping to get mainly males on my first clutch. When I arrived back home the eggs were actually stuck together but still looked very healthy. I didn't want to risk having the eggs go bad in the humid hide overnight so I marked them right side up and started incubating them right before bed. I ended up waking up during the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (about 4-5 hours after they had been incubating) and checked on the eggs to see that the temperature was at 95F!

The eggs still have the "red bullseye" embryo but are a bit discolored, almost look like they are a shade darker in parts of the egg, but nothing too extreme. I will include some pictures if I get some replies. I was able to reduce the temp back down to 89F within the next couple hours by poking 4 holes in the side of the cooler and laying about 10 paper towels between the tupperware and water bottles.

I think the eggs are still alive, but my question is will there be any health problems due to the rapid temperature change?

I've heard of leopard geckos being incubated at room temp where the temp rises to over 100F and the leos hatched out 100% healthy. Obviously this isn't ideal but my guess is they will be fine.

Another detail that could be in the leo eggs favor is that they are still less than 24 hours old. I've heard that the embryo doesn't form until 24-48 hours after being laid, so could the temp change have been irrelevant?

I look forward to hearing from you guys and girls! Let me know what you think! :main_yes:

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF! I had to approve your thread (sometimes they require approval, not that often) which is what caused the delay. Leopard gecko eggs are very hardy. I've had a couple of instances where my incubator was accidentally shut off for a few hours and everyone hatched out OK. There's no guarantee, but a good chance of success. If the eggs don't hatch, it could just be the luck of the draw. It sounds as if you need to get a decent incubator because temperature fluctuations can result in a higher number of birth defects. 89 is a bit high and I would recommend 88 (you should still get males). I recommend you either get a hovobator plus a decent thermostat, or a zoo med reptibator which already has the decent thermostat. The total should run you about $150 either way. People do use homemade incubators but it can be more difficult to keep the heat even.

Aliza

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Congrats on your eggs! based on my experience, eggs can withstand rapid changes in temperature but it depends on the temperature and the point in development at which the spike occurs. If the spike happens at a critical time the embryo can die or become seriously deformed but it can also have little effect. When I lived in TX I incubated my eggs in a warm closet that dipped 2-3 degrees at night and the babies were fine. If the temp spikes outside of the 80-90 degree range is when you're going to have bigger issues. Controlled temps are always better to avoid anything nutsy going on so I would invest in a better incubator soon. I've used Little Giant incubators that I bought at Tractor Supply (about $40) without an additional thermostat successfully for several seasons as well. Best of luck!