Surprise Eggspectations

[SFgeckos]

Okay so the title wasn't as clever as I thought!

Just wanted to share some interesting findings while checking the layboxes tonight! Even after all these years working with leos, there are still unpredictable situations that can happen.

Photo 1: surprise hatchling found in laybox, this hasn't happened in a few years but usually the adults never eat the babies unless they are starving.

Photo 2: MONSTER dud egg compared to a normal sized leo egg. I actually triple checked the laybox to make sure I didn't pull the laybox accidentally from my R.leachie cages! The particular leo female that laid this infertile egg I believe only has one working oviduct and has never laid two eggs in several seasons.

Jon

 

[SMH]

I'd be really excited to find such a beautiful surprise in one of my layboxes!
Super cool pattern! :main_cool3:

 

[Kristi23]

Very cool baby! Congrats!

 

[Sol]

i have a female that lays two eggs that size every time she lays, but they're rarely ever fertile.

 

[Suncharmers]

Great suprise i'll tell ya, pretty baby ! I just had the opposite happen with eggs,,,,, One gigantic one and one wee one the size of a small jellybean

 

[robin]

great little one! and that has to be the biggest egg i have ever seen 0_0

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I'd freak out if a baby popped up in a laybox.

 

[SFgeckos]

Thanks for the comments!

I've never seen a larger leo egg, it really is a monster! I used to always find random knobtail hatchlings years ago when I used really deep sand in their cages. In fact, once I remember coming back from vacation and opening two shoeboxes to find a baby N. levis levis in one and two baby N. levis occidentalis in the other! This was before the age of digital cameras. I've also had a friend "dump" the sand out from cages into a random container and after several months in the reptile room he found baby geckos haha!

Jon

 

[sausage]

that first egg has a line through the middle. are you sure it wasnt just two joined together?
awsome pattern on the little guy who hatched though

 

[fl_orchidslave]

that first egg has a line through the middle. are you sure it wasnt just two joined together?
awsome pattern on the little guy who hatched though

Oh. I put on my reading glasses and can see the line. It shows around the bottom left to have a very slight separation. Hmmmmm.

 

[geckogirl3]

Oh. I put on my reading glasses and can see the line. It shows around the bottom left to have a very slight separation. Hmmmmm.

I see it too
:main_robin::main_huh::main_huh::main_robin:

 

[lillith]

What a gorgeous unique jungle! Any idea on the parents, or no one will ever know?

I third the notion for two-eggs-in-one. But still. OW.

 

[SFgeckos]

Thank you for the keen observations! That line is actually the egg folded on itself (like a deflated water balloon). I can assure you with great certainty that it was indeed one enormous egg! As mentioned earlier, the female that laid the egg I believe only has one functioning oviduct because she has ALWAYS laid one egg (usually normal sized!) for several seasons.

Jon

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Wow, that's incredible, Jon. Thanks for confirming.

 

[sausage]

yeah thanks. ouch though poor girl probs cant sit down now

 

[UnicornSpirit]

that first egg has a line through the middle. are you sure it wasnt just two joined together?
awsome pattern on the little guy who hatched though

You're right... it does look like 2 eggs became stuck together while nice and soft/wet. You can clearly see a dividing line (sort of like a wrinkle) right horizontally between them.

 

[SFgeckos]

Update photo of the surprise baby!

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the head and legs are orange, similar to the coloration of orange on the tail. This baby should turn out to be a nice one!

Jon