Lost me a baby today...

KeXx

New member
I haven't been into L's very long and when I finally got some eggs things have gone bad. I've lost between 10-15 eggs already but I managed to get two to stay good.

They were due to hatch any day now and when I checked the eggs this morning I saw that one of them looked funny. I talked with a friend who has been keeping L's for a long time and she told me that the baby probably had died and gave me the advice to open the egg.

She was right, the baby was probably missing its egg tooth and drowned in the egg. Just when I was getting my first ever hatchling! And it was a small Mack Snow too...

:(

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I hope the other egg hatches out as it should. It's a funny looking egg though - reminds me of a lightbulb.
 

shaun_1_7

New member
such a shame man! I hope u can get it straitened all out. I hate that just as much as you do but you tried man just don't give up on it and hopefully the one you call the "light bulb" egg will turn out for you.
 

KeXx

New member
I hope so... and I decided a name for that baby - Edison. I mean, it's a perfect match.

Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow and find me a nice little hatchling running around in the delicup.
 

Kelentari

New member
Aww, poor little thing--he would have been a beauty! I'm so sorry for your loss. :(

I'll keep my fingers crossed for Edison (it is a perfect name)! :)
 

fickle

New member
that sucks i think that is what happened to my one leo egg its my first time hatching these too

good luck with lightbulb
 

sheenaschlytter

New member
just me sug. is that next time let the egg be many look like that a week befor they begin to hatch i have had eggs look like that many times with my bearded dragons and a week later I have a really cut baby so I no it is hard to wait but just leave it if it is bad it will get moldy and then you can cut it open

so sorry for your loss though
 

cindy

New member
I'm really sorry for your loss!:cry: I have lost several eggs too, and just when I was giving up all hope......I found a tiny, little, baby leo in my incubator!! :yahoo:This little one was incubated at 27 degrees Celcius (for female), but suprisingly hatched at 44 days! Now I'm all confused about it's gender...
But I'm so happy with this newborn life, that I really don''t care if it's a male or a female!
Hope you have more luck with your other eggs! Don't lose hope!
Kind regards,

Cindy
 

Sebastian

New member
If you lose so much eggs, there may be something wrong with incubation method.
Could you tell how you incubate your Leo eggs?
 

KeXx

New member
I've tried several different methods but none has been succesful. The first attempts were probably just my own fault but the rest I don't know. I've asked a friend of mine who breeds L's and followed her advice. The eggs seems to be ok now, and the only thing missing is a hatchling.

I incubate my eggs at 31.6 C (89F).
 

cindy

New member
Hey Kexx,

I don't know if it's been calculated correctly, but 31,9 Celcius is pretty high!! 26 to 27 degrees Celcius should produce mostly females, while a temperature of 28 to 29 degrees produces mostly males. Anything higher should result in so called "hot females". These are higly agressive, weak, females that grow really fast, but die at a young age.
Hope this info helped a little and I wish you all the luck with your other eggs!!
Kind regards,

Cindy
 

KeXx

New member
Hmmm, that's not what I've learned. All breeders I've talked to told me this:

26 - 27 C = Females

28 - 30 C = Mixed

31 - 33 C = Males

and this is a quote from Leopard and African Fat-Tailed Gecko Breeding, Egg Laying and Incubation:

"If eggs are incubated at 79 F, the majority of all hatchlings will be female. If incubated at 85F, you will get an almost equal number of males and females. If incubated at 90F, most will be male; at 92F, practically all will be males. Females hatched from these eggs are generally more aggressive than other females, and are generally considered unsuitable for breeding. If you are trying to guarantee a certain number of males, set up two incubation chambers, with one set up at the higher, male-producing temperatures, and the other at one of the lower female-producing temperatures.

Depending upon the temperatures used, eggs will hatch in 6-12 weeks, with the higher temperatures hatching sooner."

This is the way they have been doing it for a long time and I've got no reason to doubt them.

We'll just see what happens! Thanks for the input though.
 

lemonjello

New member
Well, at least the dead egg was not a total loss. We got to see how the egg yolk is attached to the gecko, we got to see how they look before they hatch, etc.
 

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Kexx, I use a very classic method of incubation and have had 100% success with leos (not counting eggs that were just infertile from the begining). I use a 1:1 ratio (by weight) of vermiculite/perlite to water. I use "gladware" type containers with 2 VERY small holes in the lid for minimal air exchange. I use a hovibator incubator with no fan. I like females, so I incubate around 82 degrees F. And I open the containers once every week or two just to make sure they get proper air exchange. Like I said, I've never had an egg die using these methods. So, perhaps that'll help you. Good luck.
 

sheenaschlytter

New member
all great info for a soon to be mom gecko I thought 90 seemed high since I only incubate my beardies at 86 but good to know you can incubate for a mixture at 85 since I have this funny feeling I am going to have beardies and leos at the same time which means lots of eggs ( my last female beardie droped 68 eggs in one clutch
 
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