U. sikorae egg laying questions

[aja19919]

Hello to all, I hope you can help and I pray that things will be okay.

I bought a WC U.sikorae at an expo in January. She has been kept in a critter keeper for quarantine and mite detection reasons. She is on a papertowel with a chunk of cork bark to lay upon. She gets misted twice a day and the house is at 70 degress F.

Well, she suprised me by laying two eggs on the cork bark tonight. I wasn't expecting this of course and have read a few caresheets that talk about substrate on vermiculite etc.

So what do I do? Do I remove the eggs from the cork bark or will I risk them being damaged? I know not to mist the eggs themselves. Will she be careful with them or should I remove the bark and replace it with a cleaner one and incubate the eggs in another enclosure?

The eggs are very bright white (she just laid them) and right now she has one hind foot covering one of them and a tail covering the other one. I am so stoked and terrified at the same time. :yikes:

Thank you for any comments, opinons, criticizing or repremands.

 

[Scott F]

It is hard to say if they are fertile or not at this point, if she is rolling them in her back feet they may be fertile, however the fact that she is not laying them on the ground makes me think that there is a good possibility they are not (however since there is no substrate she may be confused as to where she should put them). First thing I would do is leave her alone and let her continue drying them (the reason why she is holding it in her feet). Even good eggs need time to firm up. Tomorrow you can take them out to incubate. If they are stuck to the cork they are most definately infertile. Good eggs are perfectly round, calcified (hard shelled), and are usually lightly rolled in the substrate, and are generally placed under a piece of moss, bark, or leaf (lineatus are the exceptions, they frequently lay there eggs off the ground in a tangled mass of vines or the axils of large leafed plants). Good eggs do not adhere to the surface of other objects.
Post pics of the eggs to help us determine there viability.

 

[aja19919]

My camera is a neandrathal, so it doesn't take good photos, let alone macros., however, this what I got. The egg that is closest to the edge of the bark is not perfectly round, it has a slant to it.

 

[Scott F]

Even though the pics are not close ups, by the looks of them I think it is safe to say they are infertile.
Sorry.

Your tank looks a little too sparse and small, even for a quarantine enclosure. I would at least give her something the size of a 10 gallon, (preferably a 20 high) and put a couple of branches in there.

 

[jadrig]

Yeah, those are definitely infertile, but they still take away the same amount of nutrition as fertile eggs do. You want to make sure she gets plenty to eat, and also plenty of calcium. The enclosure size is a matter of preference...its been argued before on these forums.

an inverted 5 gal is perfectly fine for quarantine, especially to monitor their eating and check on their feces. As long as the newly aquired animal is eating and looks healthy, she ll be fine.

Just make sure you give her extra food to build her weight back from layin the inferts. My Mossy would eat them right after she layed them.

 

[aja19919]

Thanks for the responses, regardless of the outcome :sad: I thought she had eaten the eggs this morning because I couldn't see them. It turns out she was covering them with her body. Is this coincidence or do geckos show 'mothering' duties? ( I know crocodiles do

Should I remove them ? If I do, will she feel the urge to lay again very soon or is there a set cycle, like every 3 months.

She is getting dusted crickets and dubai roaches. Yes, she will be getting a larger enclosure.

Thank you

 

[Jody Ettema]

Thanks for the responses, regardless of the outcome I thought she had eaten the eggs this morning because I couldn't see them. It turns out she was covering them with her body. Is this coincidence or do geckos show 'mothering' duties? ( I know crocodiles do

I think it looks like she is covering her eggs, but I think this is due to the lack of space and therefore it seems so. Definetely infertile I would say. In sikorae the eggs do not always look infertile that obvious and even not yellowish, but glued eggs are not normal like what already been said.

 

[jadrig]

Well, with her covering her eggs, it is coincidence, not lack of space. These animals have a faorite daytime perching spot based upon temp/humidity/ and mostly light. Also, I have noticed that my female Satanic, as well as my U.s.sikorae, would sometimes lay their infertile eggs while they were perched/resting. I have noticed my Satanic, but more consistantly my U.s.sikorae, "nesting" a couple days before dropping some inferts. My female sikorae was like a clock...she would go to the bottom of her enclosure, dig a little hole, sit their with her eyes sunken in, then go back to her resting spot. Three days later, she would drop her duds. I would grab them with the forceps and put them infront of her, and without hesitation, she would gobble the egg right up.

 

[aja19919]

Yes, the eggs are duds, however she hasn't eaten them. Thanks to all for your comments.