Egg Fertility?

PythonChick · #1 (**permalink**) 12-11-2002, 07:59 PM

Hey all!

How long should I wait until I candle the leo gecko eggs? Should there be development with in one day, or should I wait a few days?

Also, when should I expect her to lay again? My incubator should be here by tomorrow. And, does anyone know of a good leo gecko breeding website? The ones I've founds are kind of general. A breeding section is included in the "care" section of all the sites I've gone to.

Thanks!

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telefrag · #2 (**permalink**) 12-11-2002, 08:14 PM

hmmm,
Im not sure with leo eggs, but candleing usually can be done after about 48 hours or slightly more in some python/colubrid eggs.
If this is the leo's first clutch ever, they may not be fertile, when I bred leo's most of my females first clutches went bad after about a week, but every clutch after was good.

hope that helped.

Leo breeding is pretty general, there isnt a whole lot to be said about it, which may be the reason your not finding a large amount of info on it.
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PythonChick · #3 (**permalink**) 12-12-2002, 12:04 AM

Telefrag:

Thanks for the info. This is her 1st clutch ever. I candled them and I didn't see veins. Just what looked like a yolk mass on the "floor" of the egg (when it's laying down).

I read in an article that the veins don't start to show up for a few days. I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens.

Oh, and will mom guard her eggs, or will another female guard them? It seems that there is always a female in there with them, unless they are eating or going to the bathroom.

Thanks again!

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JJshiv · #4 (**permalink**) 12-12-2002, 09:36 PM

I bred leos for the first time last summer and my 2 females laid 2 eggs every 2 weeks pretty regularly. I always took the eggs out in the morning when I woke up because they always laid at night. When I was taking them out it kind of seemed like the female was "guarding" them but she never really tried to defend them or stop me from taking them. All of my leos like to sit on the moist vermiculite at some point so I would say that your females arent really "guarding", but just like to sit on the medium that you put in the egg laying box.

As far as the fertilitly and candleing of the eggs, I could tell within a couple days if an egg was infertile. They just dont have the right color and dont absorb the moisture and grow as much as a fertile one. The fertile ones were more white than the yellow of a infertile one. Out of 24 eggs I only had 2 that were infertile and there was no obvious reason why. Both my females laid one infertile each. When I would candle I couldnt see much besides the yolk until about 2 or 3 weeks. After that, the vains were visible.
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Fyre · #5 (**permalink**) 12-29-2002, 08:56 AM

yes it takes awhile b4 you can candle them. and if the egg is slightly dimpled it may still be good! god knows ive learned that lesson the hard way! if it still slightly round with not too much dimpling it can still be good. i have had eggs that were 1/3 dimpled that were fertile.
also never turn an egg. some species eggs can be turned and what not, but leo eggs cant not be turned at all.
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PythonChick · #6 (**permalink**) 12-30-2002, 05:00 PM

Thanks for the info!

I can now see all the veins in one of the eggs. It's really cool! The other egg seems to be infertile, (no veins) but it doesn't smell rotton..yet. I'm just going to keep it in there with the other one and see what happens.

I'll keep you all updated!

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