Unexpected Eggs — How am I Doing?

thatroanhorse

New Member
Messages
5
Hi all! After losing my previous gecko I thought that I would be done with reptiles, but I fell in love with a new “boy” at the local pet store. “He” was labeled as male and was with four other geckos.

I woke up this morning and there were two eggs in the warm/moist hide. I was not expecting them nor planning on hatching babies, but they appeared fertile (red vein ring!) and I didn’t want to dispose of them.

I don’t have an incubator and would rather not buy one but will if you guys suggest it; right now I have them in a small container of reptisoil and peat moss, the reptisoil was soaked in water and the moss was listed before placing the eggs inside. Temp this morning (before work) was about 84F. I don’t have a humidity gauge in there right now as I only own one for my girl; one egg looks dented and one looks fine. I increased the moisture of the moss and will check the dented egg when I get home.
 

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acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
The trick is to keep a steady temperature and high humidity. If these are fertile eggs because your gecko has been with a male, there may well be 2 more eggs in about 2 weeks. The simplest thing to do is to get a hobovator incubator or to make one yourself by googling some ideas. Failing that, you can try incubating the way you're doing it. Some people have kept their eggs in the laybox where they were buried after being laid and have had successful hatches, though I suspect the hatch rate isn't as high as with an incubator. At any rate, you'll have an interesting experience. Good luck. I'd say incubating at 84 should result in hatching in about 5 weeks or so. Remember that if the ambient temp in your house changes greatly, so will the temp in the egg box.

Aliza
 

thatroanhorse

New Member
Messages
5
I've just bought a nano ceramic heat emitter and hooked it up to my temp regulator (I forget the "official" term). I've got it set to 87, as I've heard the temp difference in readings can be ~2 degrees either way, and 85-89 seems like a good range, correct?
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
89 is a little on the high side. In general, the greater the fluctuation, the greater the possibility that some of the geckos may hatch with birth defects which can include deformed eyelids or missing toes. I'm not saying this is definitely going to happen, but when I changed to a rock-steady incubator from my less than rock-steady one, the small number of birth defects essentially disappeared. Also remember that leopard geckos are temperature sexed so higher temperatures will result in more males which isn't a problem but does mean that when they mature they will need to be housed individually.

Aliza
 

LZRDGRL

Active Member
Messages
2,807
Location
Southern Illinois
The important thing is, what are you going to do with the babies IF you let them hatch. Here's a cheap Hovabator. That's like the one I had; worked like a charm. But your female may lay 2 eggs every 3 weeks for the rest of the year, so if you don't have enough cages to keep those hatchlings separately (so they don't bite off each other's tails; they're very skittish when they're little), or if you don't have friends/family lined up who would be happy to have them, don't incubate more than you can personally care for. It takes 3 months for females to hatch at the lower temperature (about 82 degrees F constantly, if you don't want to risk males or deformities). You can put females together once they're bigger, but each male will need a separate cage, so definitely incubate for female. You also can't leave the babies with their mom, because she would eat them. That being said, watching them hatch is the coolest and most joyful moment ever :)
 

thatroanhorse

New Member
Messages
5
Both eggs are looking like they are "flattening", both now have dents. I've covered them with some moss to attempt to keep the humidity up on top so we'll see. They might also have died, as I was NOT prepared for them at all and there was a day's delay in getting them -properly- set up with a thermostat and proper heat.

Still a learning experience! Thank you for everyone's advice!
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
Even if you had done things perfectly, it's not unusual for the first clutch not to work out, even if it candled fertile to begin with.

Aliza
 

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