Gravid S. stheno and incubation?

[fenrisswolf]

Hello there.

Well, I'm starting to strongly suspect the female S. Stheno I've just acquired is gravid, and now have some questions. I don't know how many of them have well known answers, but if I don't ask, I'll definitely not have any answers.

About how soon after "discovering" a female is gravid can one expect to have her begin laying? And, as I understand it, they will usually lay one or two eggs, but are they both deposited at the same time, or is there a small rest period in between laying one egg and the next?

Once the eggs are deposited, they are buried, and digging them out takes care, as they've been described as small, oval, and relatively thin shelled. From the size of the apparent lump on my female's abdomen, these would seem to be a bit larger than a pea, maybe about the size of a bean. Does that seem like the right size?

I do know that if I do not allow them to incubate "in situ," I will have to be careful not to turn them, as reptile eggs will usually suffocate if turned.

In general terms, I've read the incubation period takes "a few weeks," but have not seen more accurate figures.
Would somebody who's kept and bred sthenos kindly tell me about their experiences hatching them?

 

[alecfeldman]

steno eggs

The steno stheno lay the eggs, generally right where the heat is. They can lay one or two eggs which are round and fairly large in comparison to their body. They will be laid together. They will be buried, but you will notice where they buried them. The only way I have been able to get them to lay in a wet box is to make a little sand mound, right up to the entry hole. Some now lay there as well. All eggs are EXTREMELY brittle and should be handled with utmost care or will break instantly. All eggs look infertile at first, even with candling them. The veins will start to appear after about 1 week in the incubator if they are fertile. If not, they will turn yellow and start to mold up. I put them on perlite (VERY CAREFULLY). Make sure it is not too wet or they will go bad. A little moist underneath and dry on top is best. I believe they will hatch in dry incubation, though I have not tried it. The incubation period is 60-75 days at 80-84 degrees F. The babies hatch surprisingly large for how small the adults are and are VERY aggresive eaters. They can eat 1 week crickets right out of the egg.

Hope this helps.

Alec Feldman

 

[fenrisswolf]

It helps a lot. Thank you!

 

[bilcher]

stenos

Hi Alec,

have you ever discouvered temperature dependend sex determination in Stenodactylus species?

best,

Steven

 

[alecfeldman]

stenos

I have not really noticed temp. sexing in the babies, simply because I incubate at 80-84 for most of my eggs. To clarify, I dont change the temp., but it goes up and down a few degrees depending on outside weather. It generally gives me a 50/50 sex ratio on most of the incubated eggs. Truthfully I lose track of which steno is which after a while. I have a colony of them in a desert setup that just kind of sustains itself. I am not even sure how many are in there at the moment. Sorry, it couldn't be more helpful. Thats just one of my genera that I just let do what they do.

Alec Feldman

 

[fenrisswolf]

Just a follow up...

Well, after what felt like a very long wait, I found my female digging a relatively deep pit in her terrarium about two hours ago.

Since she's looked about ready to pop for at least a week, I figured she's finally ready to lay her eggs. I guess the reports are right, and those really are fairly large eggs compared to her body size, as her body was looking nearly triangular these last few days.

So I decided to leave her be, as undisturbed as I can make it, for the rest of the night. If by tomorrow night I see a very skinny, hungry looking steno running around, I'll know where to look for the eggs, and even the approximate time they where laid.

 

[fenrisswolf]

2nd follow up

Well, I guess she didn't like the first spot all that much, because she dug in a few other spots as well. This is going to make finding out the eggs a little more difficult, if I want to move them for incubation...

 

[sschind]

Alec,

Thanks for the insight. Do you remove the babies from the tank? If so what do you keep them in? I have a 6 inch deli cup with paper towel on the bottom and a milk jug cap for water and a piece of bent cardboard for cover. I found the baby without warning so its the best I could do on short notice.

Steve

 

[alecfeldman]

babies

I let the babies stay in the incubator the first night, so that they can have their first shed. After that, I have a baby plastic tub for the baby stenos. I put all of them in there, until they go to their new homes. Substrate is very fine sand. One moist end, one dry end. Cover are pieces of flat orchid bark. Spray half the container once a day. Feed every other day.

 

[fenrisswolf]

Well, these will be my first hatchlings ever (of any species,) so there really is little "straight from the egg" experience I can offer, but based on previous experience raising other young geckos, I would move them to a small container, such as a critter keeper or appropriately sized tupperware and care for them there first, instead of keeping them in the same 10 gallon as the parents.

This is mostly to make sure that they're feeding properly and have an easier time catching prey. From what I've been told and read they are fairly sturdy from the get-go, as long as they are kept in a healthy environment.

As far as substrate:
I'm partial to more naturalistic setups, so my gut reaction would be to keep them in the same substrate as the adults, with maybe a hide and a flat rock in there, and just mist them twice daily. If they're anything like my adults, they will happily drink off the beads of water on the rock and walls of their enclosure, and the combination of misting and small enclosure size will keep them from dehydrating too much.
These are desert geckos after all, so constant humidity is probably not that good for them, but a regular light misting is generally appreciated.

This, of course is my personal opinion only, and any more experienced keeper, please feel free to correct or clarify anything I might get wrong.

 

[Silvershark]

Alec,

Thanks for the insight. Do you remove the babies from the tank? If so what do you keep them in? I have a 6 inch deli cup with paper towel on the bottom and a milk jug cap for water and a piece of bent cardboard for cover. I found the baby without warning so its the best I could do on short notice.

Steve

I've kept my first lot in cricket tubs for the first couple of weeks. When I see them eating normally I put them into pairs. With them all eating now though I'm going to be moving them into a larger space with three in each box (mainly because three are mine, the other three are going off to a new home when they're ready!)

As above, I've been keeping them on sand like the adults and I use a few bits of cardboard for hides, light mistings every day.

 

[Steve905]

I now have 2...

I have 2 new hatchlings. What do you feed them? I've tried really small latterallis roaches and they ignored them. pinheads? fruit flys? These guys are the smallest little boogers I've ever seen or attempted to raise.

Thanks in advance

 

[Silvershark]

I feed mine pinheads. Some will also take extra small phoenix worms and micro silkworms.