sweet sweet satanics

[miguel camacho!]

i just got my 13th and 14th eggs last night, looks like i've got #15 and #16 coming tonight from one of my red girls! this year has totally blown away my expectations (but we still gotta wait to see what actually hatches!)

 

[Bowfinger]

Good job and congrats, how many pairs do you have going and what are you keeping temps at.

 

[miguel camacho!]

ive got 4 breeding pairs right now, and i think only 3 of those have given me fertile eggs, the other has been laying duds. ive also got another 2 females a lil below breeding size giving me duds at the moment. i dont keep close tabs on temps, but for the most part they're low to mid 70's at this time of year. during the winter it drops into the mid 60's, sometimes low 60's.

 

[klondike4001]

Will you be keeping all these, or slowly selling off the juvies?

 

[miguel camacho!]

well, i just checked up on her again, and im not positive yet, but from the looks of it, it will be a single, very large egg. ive got to learn not to count my eggs before they're laid! anyhow, ill be leaving it in situ tonight to give it ample time to dry and harden, and sometime tomorrow i will move it in with the other eggs.

and chances are that i will be keeping all of my offspring. theres no guarantee how many will actually hatch, and furthermore how many hatchlings will survive. im working on getting several bloodlines set up in order to produce 2nd generation CBs in the future. that's still a couple years away, though.

and i also caught 2 of my satanics caught up in copulation. this particular male is very good looking, but prior to now i have never seen him breed, so that is a definite plus! that leaves only one adult male of mine that i havent seen copulate yet! and this was my favorite red girl that is mating with him!

 

[klondike4001]

When you leave them in there overnight to harden, do you cover them at all?

When I leave my ebenaui/phantasticus eggs to harden I have a miniscule screen cage I place over the egg / eggs to keep them safe from crickets or the other cage inhabitants.

I'm picking up a few CB to mix with my own to work towards 2nd generation as well, keep me posted on how yours come along.

 

[ryanm]

Congrats, sounds like you're having a productive season!

ryanm

 

[the moof]

Goood news! I look forward to piccies of the newborns!

regards,
*the moof*

 

[miguel camacho!]

When you leave them in there overnight to harden, do you cover them at all?

no. i leave them as they are. i dont often have crickets roaming around more than a day after feedings, i try to put in just as many as will be eaten. keeping crickets fed should also help keep them from going after stuff in the tanks.

however, when i first started, i incubated my first two clutches of eggs in the tanks with the adults in small screen cubes.

 

[herperboy]

Thats a really interesting idea there mike.

 

[miguel camacho!]

well, honestly i got into the species relatively inexperienced, but very determined. as soon as i found the eggs, i though about it...if they lay the eggs in the enclosure, and the adults are doing fine in the enclosure, shouldnt the eggs be able to hatch out in those conditions? so that was the incubation device i came up with, and by all means it worked. i didnt like it though because it was too hard to get to the eggs, as well as the geckos when they hatched. plus, there was the time when the adults knocked the whole thing over. so theres just to many risks i encountered with that design.

 

[miguel camacho!]

well, im coming closer and closer to confirming my suspicion that you will most like see a pair of satanics locked up in copulation the night following eggs being laid by said female. i have had an extraordinary year with these so far, as many of you know, and in the majority of cases where i have pulled out (what so far look like) fertile eggs, i have observed mating by the same female the following night. this is one of those details i brought up in my 19-page caresheet i wrote on them, but it was a relatively new idea at the time. im at the point now where if you see your geckos mating (and the female possibly looked gravid prior), it could be worth looking around for eggs.

anyway, the best part: pics!

my favorite red girl securing the next clutch, and a first time breeder male:

different red female laying an egg last night:

same red female from pic above copulating tonight:

 

[kenya_1977]

That's some pretty cool stuff Mike. Great observations.

 

[Mad]

I had the same thing happened with my pietschmanni. They mated usually right after the female layed. By the way Great Job and congrats on all the eggs.
-Matt