Please help steno has laid 2 eggs please

[marieandchrisx4]

OK my steno has laid 2 eggs and i have carefully put them in a tub with sand the only thing was they rolled would this have caused daage as she has only just layed them i had to kida dig round as she kinda coverd them up ,ive set the incubator at 84-86 and misted not alot but very slightly around the edge of the tub heres a pic

ok so what do i need to do now please im a women in need as this is my first lot of eggs :yikes:

 

[renster]

Im not an expert on the issue but i have 4 sthenos and they have laid, the eggs were infertile anyway.

The one with the dent in it may be/become infertile or so ive read, Rolling of the egg isnt a major issue or atleast again so ive read elsewhere, Excessive rolling of an egg will ruin it.

If i were you id get 2 soda bottle caps and fill them with sand and place each egg on an individual sand filled lid and place that in a tub of moist soil/vermiculite/coco husk.

HOWEVER from looking id rather you just left them the way they are in the incubator for now, next set of eggs follow the instructions above, they are apparently best.

One is already minorly damaged but it shouldnt effect it too much.

Just monitor the humidity level of the Tub, watch the temps and wait and hopfully in around 70 - 80 days you should have 2 little steno's

and Whatever you do, DO NOT pick them up to candle.

In about a week or 2 the eggs should turn pinkish, it may not be noticeable at first but if you take a torch and shine it on the side of an egg and look at the other side(this is know as candling) you will see at first a pinkish/reddish blob or the entire egg will be pinkish/reddish, OR you will see pink/red with Veiny like things(usually later into incubation) this means they are fertile.

Either way wait till the incubation period is long over before thinking the eggs are duds.


Hope all goes well

 

[marieandchrisx4]

thank you i will do as u have said as another one of my females is fat to and is digging left right and center so keeping an eye on her to now lol this is so exciting but sceary at the same time

 

[marieandchrisx4]

also can i ask is in normal behaviour as the female is still kicking sand over were the eggs are and hanging around that area its not going to stress her ou is it when she finds out there not there and shes been covering for nothing

 

[renster]

They do that its just survival instinct my small female just laid and forgot about her eggs, my larger female watched hers or atleast what she thought was her eggs.

Give her 2 - 3 days, offer her food(dusted) as shes just lost alot of energy, and she should be fine in a few days, If you offer her a lively food that will usually sway them to forget about the eggs.

Hope all goes well

 

[marieandchrisx4]

thanks for that

 

[renster]

Just thought id add this, if the female insists on stayin where her eggs were(my female is doing this atm as shes laid again eggs are still there tho)

Make sure she eats as my female wouldnt leave her hide today and also leave a dish of water next to her, and if there is no hide in that area put one either on top of where eggs were or right beside it with the entrance next to the spot where she laid

 

[marieandchrisx4]

thank u well on the 17th my other female layed 2 eggs aswell lol in the same place so now have 4 eggs incubating now and just waiting on scar now as she has eggs to pmsl there still white is this a good sign

 

[renster]

Yep, white eggs are a good sign, If they are dud they should go yellow and let off a bad smell within the first 2 or so weeks.

Its great to see more sthenos around in the UK they are hard to find here, and if they are found in a petshop they are most likely Wild Captured, would like to see more Bred in Captivity for a change as they are by far my favourite gecko and if not already known are Protected in Israel due to the few numbers of them, so it would be nice to have the numbers grow.

 

[marieandchrisx4]

ill keep an eye on them well im kinda panicing now as my 3rd female that has eggs has not got them now and not got a clue were she has layed them i dont want to dig for them incase i crack them but now i have 6 and all layed withing few days of each other hmmm makes me wonder now if some are going to be fertile

 

[renster]

Well it depends, from what ive been told the first clutch of eggs is usually infertile but not always, so realistically if all 3 females havent laid before then they may well be infertile however there is still a chance that they are fertile.

Even then its impossible to determine if the female has laid before as they may be Wild Captured or may have laid eggs before but another gecko has broken them and ate the shells/yolk.

Either way id keep all eggs incubated until atleast 2 weeks after the Incubation period is over, that way you can be sure there was no late hatchers that you may have otherwise binned.

If you candle the eggs and they are infact fertile and the egg passes the incubation period by 3 - 4 days then id suggest breaking the top off the egg as the gecko may be having trouble hatching itself.

Just whatever you do keep in mind that the eggs are incubating for different times as some were laid later than others, so to be on the safeside keep each geckos eggs separated that way there is absolutely no way you will open the wrong eggs thinking they were long overdue.

Also if you know when each egg was laid it would be an idea to write the date on a piece of paper and stick it in the incubator next to the eggs from that date.

If you know each eggs date also calculate the day they will hatch that way you can be prepared, If all 6 do infact end up fertile you will need 1 or 2 more tanks(Depending on size) for them until they hit the 3 month period(Can be earlier if you want) when they can be put back in the same viv as the parents if wanted.

The main reason I am sayin 3 - 4 days is that you may have found the eggs a day or 2 after they were laid.

 

[marieandchrisx4]

hi well i dont think its there first time i did have 11 eggs but sadly one that wasnt layed long had cracked but 4 now that were layed 13th and 17 are fertile they all have veins ,yes i have a spare tank ready heat mat just wondering what substrate to use for babys i was thinking paper as there only going to be babys when born what do u think ,paper or sand ?

 

[MonteQ's]

I usually keep them on paper until they've completed their first shed. Then move them to sand. These guys dig like crazy from day one. They just seem more comfortable on sand. Keep them well fed and supplemented and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Mark_D]

anyone posting pics of the babies