Vittatus Eggs!!

Dyesub Dave · #1 (**permalink**) 08-27-2008, 08:21 PM

Well I purchased a proven pair of Vittatus last Thursday. You could see the eggs in the female when I got her. She laid a pair of eggs on the glass - front door of the exo-terra of course - last night. The eggs look to be fertile as the heat bulb is aimed down into the enclosure behind the eggs and there is a slight pink hue to them.

I was wondering how long until the babies hatch? I've read around 2-3 months. Does that sound about right for those of you that have hatched this species before?

I will post some pics in the next few days. Unfortunately my adult vittatus aren't nearly as colourful as some of the others I've seen on this forum and the net. They are a pale green/brown colour without much of a stripe at all. Hopefully the babies will be a bit more vibrant!

Thanks for any suggestions or comments you may have!

Dyesub Dave.

cliff_f · #2 (**permalink**) 08-27-2008, 08:53 PM

One quick suggestion. Put a piece of tape on that one door so you dont open and close it all the time. You dont want scrambled egg vittatus

Ingo · #3 (**permalink**) 08-29-2008, 03:36 AM

Hi,

more likely 3 months or more than 2 months. 75 days is the shortest incubation time I observed for eggs in the enclosure, mostly eggs need 90 to 110 days till hatching for my vittatus. Gekko vittattus btw needs some revision. There are probably several species within this name. The almost stripeless ones typically are more vocal than the almost never calling standard vittattus and stay smaller. But right out of the egg, the babies are as brilliantly coloured as the "normal" vittatus. Nevertheless, they will gradually loose their stripes when they are grown.

Ingo

Dyesub Dave · #4 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 03:31 PM

Hey Cliff ... at first I was trying to figure out how I would open the enclosure (besides the top) if I used tape on the doors. And then I took a look at the enclosure and realized that you just meant the one door with the eggs on it ..... DUH !!!

That's a great tip ... Thanks!!

Hi Ingo ... well I guess I've got a bit of time then. I did hear a strange noise one night but couldn't figure out if it came from their enclosure or from my balcony. It was sort of a chirp/squeal sound. Yes I've seen pics of the babies and they are extremely brilliant. These guys are fairly plain looking with only a faint stripe and very light stripes on the tail. However they are very cute and animated creatures. Thanks for all the info!

Well I've finally taken some pics of these geckos along with the eggs and their enclosure. Keep in mind that the enclosure isn't quite finished. It was a quick setup and I still want to put a terrarium bottom (Hydroton/Charcoal/Reptile Earth containing springtail eggs) and a couple more live plants.

I beleive that the gecko in the first pic is the male and the other two pics are the female. I'm only judging by how thin the female is after laying her eggs. It's really hard to tell unless they're giving you the FULL MONTY on the glass!

Please feel free to give any comments or suggestions you may have!!

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

Dyesub Dave · #5 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 04:48 PM

WOW .... I just put a butterworm near each of these geckos. They got fairly excited when the saw the worm moving. They each grabbed one and shook it several times and then ate it. This might be a good treat for them once in a while. I would assume that they'd eat appropriately sized silworms as well.

Dyesub Dave.

Saille · #6 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 02:45 PM

Hey there, Grats on the eggs! And thanks for the pics, nice set up so far!
Your geckos looks very different to mine, all three of mine have the heavy solid white stripe and the intense white and dark bands across the tail.

On silkworms, My first White Lined was the only animal I could get to eat the silkworms when I tried them. (My Blue Tongue wouldn't touch the darned things!) He loves them, and they have a great calcium to phosphorus ratio, even though they're a little pricey. I haven't tried silks this year, so with my two new ones, I'm not sure.
Might be worth it for the laying females due to the high calcium content in them?

Dyesub Dave · #7 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saille

Hey there, Grats on the eggs! And thanks for the pics, nice set up so far!
Your geckos looks very different to mine, all three of mine have the heavy solid white stripe and the intense white and dark bands across the tail.

On silkworms, My first White Lined was the only animal I could get to eat the silkworms when I tried them. (My Blue Tongue wouldn't touch the darned things!) He loves them, and they have a great calcium to phosphorus ratio, even though they're a little pricey. I haven't tried silks this year, so with my two new ones, I'm not sure.
Might be worth it for the laying females due to the high calcium content in them?

Hey Thanks Saille. Yeah ... I was hoping mine were going to look like yours but at least I've got a breeding pair of them. Hopefully the babies will look bright and colourful for a while.

Do you have pics of yours on the forum somewhere?

I buy the silkworm eggs and chow and hatch them out myself. It's far cheaper than buying them separately and that way you have different sizes for various sized reptiles. Yes ... the calcium content is excellent in silkies!! I'm definitely going to try these geckos on silkworms!

Dyesub Dave.

Saille · #8 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 08:36 PM

I do have pics, of my newest male and the juvie, easier to repost them here, if you don't mind?

My original is really hard to get a pic of, but he's got the solid striping as well, even more so than my newer smaller male.
Here are some pics:
newer Adult male:

juvie:

Dyesub Dave · #9 (**permalink**) 09-07-2008, 06:51 PM

Yours have much brighter stripes than mine!! Nice looking geckos!!

I was wondering if it's OK to get the eggs wet? I've been avoiding this so far but figured that they must be able to handle it as they would likely get wet when laid outdoors. Then I wondered perhaps if would be beneficial for them to have a little moisture on occasion?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Dyesub Dave.

Ingo · #10 (**permalink**) 09-08-2008, 03:50 AM

The enclosure I keep my vittatus in is misted automatically twice a day. The egg laying place is at a plce never reached by the automatic misting. Anyhow, twice a week I do mist manually in addition to the automated basis.
Then I do mist everything heavily, including the eggs.
Thus, eggs of my vittatus get wet twice a week.
Hatching rate has never been below 100%.
On the other hand, eggs do not NEED misting.

Hope that helps

Ingo