where are we going wrong or is our stud not such a stud after all!?

[xraverxbabyx]

this is the second time we've tried to breed our leos, the first we only bred one female and she laid one clutch of two eggs that were infertile. this year we've tried with all four of girls , so far we've had about 20 eggs in total, they've been laid in pairs and so far every single egg has gone mouldy and collasped, we candled each egg and they didn't look fertile but we put them in the incubator just in case within a few days they had collasped and started to go mouldy. for three of the girls it's their first time, but one of them did lay eggs last year but they too were infertile. we keep the eggs in a brinsea incubator at 78%-80% humidity and a constant temp of 82f, all the eggs are caught within acouple of hours of laying( the laying box they choose is a moss filled box with a temp of 79f and humidity of around 75%) they are fed a varied diet of silkworms,pheonix worms, wax worms(as a treat), butter worms, meal worms, crickets, locusts and the occasional roach, all the feeder insects are gut loaded 24 hours before feeding with VIT-ALL Sticky Tongue Farm gut loading mix. two out three feeds are dusted with Miner-All (1) Sticky Tongue Farm (this has added vit D) and they have a dish with pure calcium in their tank which is filled at all times. they are offered food every day, they are kept at temps 78f-88f . i just dont know where we are going wrong? some one has suggested it may be our male who has the problem?

 

[fallen_angel]

Everything you describe sounds perfect, perhaps it is your male.. ?

 

[david13]

ya, your male sounds like he is sterile maybe

 

[xraverxbabyx]

i thought it might be:main_no: , should i just keep trying with the eggs that come along? i suppose it can't hurt.</IMG>

 

[Mel&Keith]

One side of their enclosure should be 92F at the warmest spot and the other side around 70F. Maybe your temps could have something to so with it. A sterile male is also a possibility if you've never gotten a fertile egg from any of the females. Many times females will just re-absorb infertile eggs rater than laying them so it's curious that you've had so many laid.

Do the eggs look good but candle yellow before they go bad? It can take up to a few days for an embryo to become visible after it's laid so maybe they are fertile but they're going bad before you're seeing the bullseye. Is it possible that your incubation medium is too wet or the humidity is too high in the incubator?

 

[GeckoGathering]

We Want To See a Hatchling

Sounds pretty good to me so ?? things I offer may be ??
(1) Have you viewed breedings?...SOME too young females could be PART of problem.......doubtful all though.
(2) Moss bedding in lay box? always been the same? read about any additives.
(3)Verified your incubator temp. with another gage? Try for an area for females without them in the incubator. I made a Female shelf near the gas water heater
that stays 80-82.......only doing males in the incubator.
(4)Try another male (if available? a friend, or classified ad for stud)...
only use another male for older female to test prove your male is unrelyable or not ....maybe he could still be too young??? ***********I had very similar results
last year but did get a few babies. Young female eggs all bad...Same male used
but not observed doing the deed..... older female(2nd breeding year hatched out 3)...........Can't tell you the new results yet...2008 hatchings won't start till Mid May.
Take care. HJ

 

[xraverxbabyx]

yes we have watched him mate with all but one of the girls, they are all at least two years old but not older then five. but we don't actually know how old our male is as he was bought fully grown and the shop owner didn't have a clue so it may be that he could be too old?
we have always used moss, it's labelled for use with reptiles and says it's just moss and nothing else. altho the humid hide has a layer of eco earth at the bottom with moss on top, but they choose not to use this box( i suppose because it's cooler then the other)
We use a digital thermometer and a glass thermometer in the incubator. both reading the same temp.
i thought about using the airing cubboard but the temperature flucuates too much and it's full of towels! plus i doubt his mum would be happy with that set up!
we have been offered the use a super mack snow male whos a proven breeder, but i think i might leave it til next year to give them a bit of a break and get them back in prime condition.

 

[goReptiles]

Consider using vermiculite or perlite as the incubation medium instead of moss. You may have the moss to moist.

I'm confused as to why the laybox is 79F. Do you use multiple layboxes on different sides of the tank? Because 79F seems pretty low.