Egg hunting advice needed

[Izzy's Mom]

My female crestie mated for the first time a little over a month ago, so she should be laying eggs any day now. Her weight before mating was 53g. She has been gaining weight over the last few weeks - all the way up to 58g, then hovering between 57-58 grams.

Last night, I weighed her and she was 55.3g and i saw a mound of dirt that looked like it had been dug up in her vivarium (I have a naturalistic vivarium with real plants and about 3 inches of soil/vermiculite substrate). I dug around all over the place and didn't find any eggs. So, I patted the soil down and again tonight there was a dug-up spot which I searched, but still no eggs.

She did shed about 2 days ago, so i thought maybe that would account for the weight loss... But, do female geckos start digging around a few days before they lay, or might she be having trouble laying eggs? Or do you think she already layed them and I'm just not finding them? This is my first time breeding, so forgive me if I'm a bit paranoid!

 

[Spyral]

She could have already laid them, and you just haven't found them yet. I have this same problem when breeding in a naturalistic setup. They are really amazing about finding a spot you can't find unless you tear down the tank.

I've had a gecko hatch in a naturalistic enclosure, so there is hope for the eggs. However, if you want to have a good hatch rate it's best to house laying females on paper towels and provide a laybox.

Good luck!

 

[Izzy's Mom]

As it turned out, she hadn't layed them yet. She spent about 4 days digging around in different spots in the vivarium, and the last day or so, she kept returning to the same spot to dig. Yesterday, she was out during the day, which was weird, and after digging for awhile she came up to the top of the tank for a rest. I decided to weigh her, and her weight had dropped to 50.4g, so I knew that there must be eggs for sure somewhere!

I searched about an inch below the surface in the same spot she was digging, and 'voila' - her first egg Another 1/2 inch below that one was the 2nd egg.

It seems like she has lost about 3g of body weight during her first pregnancy, and then the eggs weighed about 1.8g each, so that accounts for the other 4g.

Spyral - I noticed that my tank substrate is the same consistency/moisture as the incubator box where I moved my eggs to, so I bet they would hatch just fine if I ever missed any. What would happen if they did hatch in the main tank? Would the parents immediately go after any hatchlings??:shock:

 

[Spyral]

It's possible the parents could eat the little babies, or at least compete for food with them. It's always good to take the hatchlings out.

 

[Izzy's Mom]

Oh, for sure... I was just thinking if I ever missed an egg, or if my female laid eggs after I had taken the male out and I wasn't expecting them, then they might just hatch on their own. I would definitely take out any hatchlings I found right away, but I would hope they would survive until I found them.

 

[Spyral]

I don't feed live food in so my adults aren't used to going after prey and so the baby that we had hatch in the tank was just fine. I wouldn't push it though!

 

[Logansbiome]

I had my first hatchling hatch out in the terrarium also. It was a decent size and all the way at the top basking under the lamp on the end of a birds nest fern frond. The male could care less about anything but MRP but the female attacks anything that moves. So I assume he kept a low profile or she was just too heavy to get him on the end of that fern frond. Anyway now I just look for eggs every two weeks and it works out fine. I just lightly move around the substrate until I find two eggs or no eggs. I do agree that the paper towel and lay box is a smart way to go but I find the natural vivarium look more rewarding.

Logan