# leopard gecko eggs again



## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

of all the eggs i have seen in pics the eggs are always nice and round and filled out but mine never seem to be like that. they are either caving in due to drying out or going mouldy. the ones that i have at the moment i think were laid the night before last and she buried them in her moist hide (moss) when i just took them out to put in the incubator they are still very soft and look a bit deflated. when do they go filled out or should they do that straight away? also when do they start to chalk and harden up? not sure if they are like this because they were completely covered in moss or if it is normal?
i really want to sucsessfully hatch even just one batch of eggs! dont know what else to do now!


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## Baby_DJ (Sep 24, 2008)

Well you should only pic the eggs up and put them where they will be going to hatch and not touch them again. Only spray them with water.
They shouldnt change from the way they look when they are laid as fair as im aware, ive never breeded myself though so only going on what i have seen.


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

bernards mom said:


> of all the eggs i have seen in pics the eggs are always nice and round and filled out but mine never seem to be like that. they are either caving in due to drying out or going mouldy. the ones that i have at the moment i think were laid the night before last and she buried them in her moist hide (moss) when i just took them out to put in the incubator they are still very soft and look a bit deflated. when do they go filled out or should they do that straight away? also when do they start to chalk and harden up? not sure if they are like this because they were completely covered in moss or if it is normal?
> i really want to sucsessfully hatch even just one batch of eggs! dont know what else to do now!


how are you incubating them ~ what medium are you using, how wet is it, what are the incubator temps?
The eggs usually harden up quite quickly ~ if they remain soft or deflate then the probs can be anything from duff eggs (infertile) to too wet/humid, too cool .



Baby_DJ said:


> Only spray them with water.


you *don't* spray the eggs! you should only gently spray the incubation medium if that becomes too dry and then making sure that you don't spray the eggs ~ if the eggs themselves start to dimple through being too dry then you lay either some just damp moss or kitchen paper on them until they have plumped up again.


> They shouldnt change from the way they look when they are laid as fair as im aware, ive never breeded myself though so only going on what i have seen.


the eggs will and do change in appearance and texture from when they are first laid ~ they will also grow larger as the young leo grows and gets near to hatching.


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## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

thanks for that.
the eggs were laid i think the night before last. she had laid them and buried them in the moss that is what is in her moist hide. the incubator i am using is a poly box on its side with a window in the front (lid) there is a heatmeat on a stat on the back wall and wire mesh shelving in there. the eggs themselves are in a cricket tub with additional vents cut into the lid, there is moist vermiculite in there and i have covered the the eggs round the sides (about 2/3 of the egg) the temps are staying at 82. 
i was going to leave the eggs in the moist hide as long as poss but she went back in there this afternoon and was laid ontop of them and i was worried that she would dg them up when scratching about so had to take them out today.


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

all my females lay in the moss in the moist hides and I usually remove the eggs as soon as they've finished covering them and have trotted off 
How moist is the vermiculite? It should really only be just damp (if you squeeze it in your hand no excess water should drip out and it should form a soft ball shape) Must admit I prefer using perlite in my incubation boxes but the usage is the same. 
When I put the eggs in I make a shallow dimple with my thumb in the medium ~ just enough to stop the eggs from any movement.. I only put the eggs deeper (or put moist paper/moss on top) *if* it looks like they're drying out .... is the temp probe in the egg box or outside? I've found that there can be a temp difference between the egg boxes and the incubator.


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

I used cricket tubs to incubate my eggs last year, I taped up all the holes along the two big sied and just left the holes on the short sides - that worked pretty well for me, I only had to top up on water every couple of weeks.
If they get too dry and dimple, you can bury them under the vermicultie and they should plump up again in a few days. 
I also had my crickettub sat directly on the mat with the thermostat probe and digi thermometer probes in the box with the eggs.
I managed 100% hatch rate with the exception of one whole tub that I got too wet - so my fault, and a few infertile ones.


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## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

hi there, i had to get vermiculite as that was all i could get hold of (and that took a right carry on too) it is only damp though. i have a thermomiter and stat probe in the tub with the eggs. it is reading 82 and seems to be stable enough. 
i have tried putting the eggs on moss, i have put the cicket tub on the heatmat but then the humidity went mad and they went mouldy so i cut holes in the top and they were drying out too quick and then dried out the eggs. i seem to go one way or the other and cant work out a happy medium. i know it is trail and error but it is so frustrating having to throw away another batch of eggs.


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## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

do healthy eggs stay soft or do they harden like chicken eggs? if they do start to harden when does that happen?


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

They stay kind of leathery all the way through incubation.


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

bernards mom said:


> do healthy eggs stay soft or do they harden like chicken eggs? if they do start to harden when does that happen?


 no the eggs don't go like chickens eggs  they go (as Ally said) leathery ~ bit like stale marshmallows


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## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

ok then thankyou. still looking ok at the mo. they are still slightly flat but i am hoping that they fill out at some point. well we are doing better than the last eggs i have had so fingers crossed! lol
i am incubating at 81/82 so what would you say i am looking at before they hatch (asuming that they remain ok)


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

bernards mom said:


> i am incubating at 81/82 so what would you say i am looking at before they hatch (asuming that they remain ok)


if all goes ok you're looking at an incubation of approximately 60 days or so and chances of mainly females 
good luck : victory:


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## kirsten (Jan 13, 2008)

incubating at those temps you are looking at mostly females.


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## kirsten (Jan 13, 2008)

damn, SleepyD you always seem to get in there just before me!!


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

kirsten said:


> damn, SleepyD you always seem to get in there just before me!!


:Na_Na_Na_Na: I'm awake for a change


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## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

i am hoping for females. i would like to sell them so it wouldnt really matter if i had male or female but these are my first babies (presuming they hatch of course) so i can see it being hard to give them up so i thought females might be better for me in the long term! 
57 days give or take seems like forever away!


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

bernards mom said:


> i am hoping for females. i would like to sell them so it wouldnt really matter if i had male or female but these are my first babies (presuming they hatch of course) so i can see it being hard to give them up so i thought females might be better for me in the long term!


 having more females is also better if you have trouble selling them


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## bernards mom (Jan 29, 2007)

will worry about that if and when i come to it! lol


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