# Gecko unable to pip egg?



## RussellS (Jun 13, 2013)

Hi guys, mu first leopard gecko hatched last Wednesday (now Sunday), it's clutch mate hasn't hatched yet, but there are little holes in the top of the egg, they look like they are made from inside and don't go through the shell completely. It looks like the hatchling has tried to pip the egg but failed. Any advice?
I have a picture, but I don't think I can attach it on here.
Thanks
Russell


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

I would leave it for a little longer and not disturb the incubator, see if he can make his own way out. There isn't really much you can do, if the hatchling can't get out of the egg alone then it's weak for some reason and just not meant to be.


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## RussellS (Jun 13, 2013)

It's not recommended to help pip the holes the hatchling has already attempted then?
The shell of the egg seems quite hard. I know they are meant to be soft shelled, is it possible the shell can be too hard?


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## Crestiezoo (Jan 8, 2013)

When I started out breeding Cresties I had a similar problem. A couple of my eggs would pip and then not go any further. I left them, they never hatched. 

The next time it happened I gave it a couple of extra days, still didn't hatch alone so I aided it in hatching. I kept the little one back for myself, it grew up just fine! But that's not always the case...

However with experience over the years, I improved my incubation methods, care for breeding females and diets. And these days I don't have that problem any more. The only eggs that I have now that don't hatch on their own, are ones that turn bad early on! 

Personally its up to you. If the gecko can't hatch from a healthy egg the likely hood is the gecko is weaker than it should be, so natural selection kicks in early! The weak don't hatch. That being said, sometimes shells are thicker and a healthy baby genuinely cant hatch, in which case I would aid it. There are lots of factors effecting hatch rate, get these ironed out in future and you shouldn't have this problem 

Either way, its your choice  Lots of people will say leave it alone, others will say help it... 

Sorry I wasn't a lot of help!!


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