How long until she lays?

[favrielle]

I recently purchased a neon bell who arrived gravid (I knew it was a possibility, my vet confirmed it .) Last night, while changing a section of her paper towel substrate, I had to move her and did a quick check myself. She has two pink/white circles maybe 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter at most, one on each side and one slightly higher up her side than the other. From other pictures online, I'm fairly certain these are follicles/eggs.

Since these will be my first eggs ever, I have no clue when to expect them. Approximately how long should it be until she lays?

 

[rossg93]

I would say in the next week so I would get a laying box in her enclosure and set up your incubator, good luck!

 

[favrielle]

She already has a large humid hide/laybox. Since I knew she might be gravid when I bought her, I figured I might as well start her out with a large one, so I wouldn't have to unsettle her more by introducing new "furniture".

I've already started playing with my incubator, figuring out the controls. It's a Reptibator, so I'm going to have a lot of room I won't need. I'm thinking of filling the empty space with water bottles to stabilize the temps.

 

[favrielle]

And now my lovely girl is digging like her life depends on it. I could hear her in there for almost 20 minutes last night, makes me wonder what I'll find when I go do my morning gecko check.

I'm trying to get my incubator to stabilize at "male temps" but so far I've only gotten it to settle at 85.5*. I wonder if I might be better off just ensuring it's stable at this temp even though I might not get the male baby I was hoping for?

Edited to add:

She made the decision for me. Two eggs in the box this morning. I have no clue if they're fertile, but I'm incubating no matter what. Now I just have to hope that 1) they are fertile, and 2) I don't kill them with any newbie mistakes!

 

[scm133]

Eggs:main_thumbsup: Now, the fun begins! Just incubate until they either hatch or turn bad. Good Luck!!!!!

 

[favrielle]

Yup, eggs, but they didn't even make it a week. They started getting fuzzy, then collapsed and got really fuzzy. Duds.

No clue whether she'll lay more; she was a first-year breeder. I won't entirely give up hope and pack up the new incubator, but I'm not counting on getting any more eggs. I guess the next few weeks will tell.

 

[Mclaughlin]

Sorry to hear it! Keep your chin up. It'll come in time.

 

[favrielle]

Eh, it's ok. I was really excited at the chance to get some babies, esp. since there was a chance of a nice bright Radar or Eclipse from the clutch, but I can wait until next year if she doesn't drop any more fertile eggs.

On the upside, she was 65 grams when she got here, 55g after dropping the clutch, and is now up to 67g. Not too bad for 10 days after laying, and being treated for a high pinworm load to boot.