Getting phelsuma eggs out of bamboo?

[Kevin McRae]

Hi, how do you guys get grandis eggs out of hollow bamboo? I've currently got a set of eggs about 5-6" down a hollow piece of bamboo. The diameter of the bamboo is about 1.5-2". I was thinking about using a large spoon. Any advice?

 

[Kevin McRae]

So I took out the bamboo and held it diagonally and used a spoon to scoop them out the bamboo. They rotated a little but I'm not concerned. Very nerve racking though, AFT's are much easier. haha.

 

[daggekko]

If they are close enough to reach I usually try to mark them with a marker on the tops(so if they rotate they can be corrected. I have used a pen and a tiny bit of pressure to pop them loose. Granted I am not working with glueing species, so the eggs aren't really stuck in the first place. What kind of geckos are you going to hopefully hatch?

 

[colinmelsom]

Why do you need to get them out of the bamboo?I would take the whole piece out and incubate them separately.If you remove the eggs you are likely to damage them.

 

[Kevin McRae]

Why do you need to get them out of the bamboo?I would take the whole piece out and incubate them separately.If you remove the eggs you are likely to damage them.

This piece of bamboo is 18" long and is 1.5-2" thick. To incubate I would then have to put the piece of bamboo into a large rubbermaid container. Each time the geckos laid a clutch I would remove a piece of bamboo. 6 piece of large bamboo are not going to fit in my incubator. Grandis are not egg gluers so I wasn't too worried about damaging them.

The marker idea sounds great! Thanks for the tip!

 

[colinmelsom]

Why not cut the bamboo so there is a joint within easy reaching distance of the end of the bamboo?Or do away with the bamboo as they will then lay their eggs in easier to find placees.
The grandis probably only use the bamboo for egg laying and not hiding as they are very bold.

 

[Sgvreptiles]

I simply roll them out. Ive done it that way for years. Never marked them and never broke one. I haven't had any issues with hatchlings doing it this way.

 

[dakinecornell]

I use long forceps and never have damaged eggs. Hatched out 2 dozen or so grandis eggs this year simply pulling them out this way. Of course Jeff's (SGV reptile) method works too; grandis eggs are remarkably resilient.

 

[mkschaefer]

I roll them out or put a piece of tape on a pencil or other object and slowly fish them out at an angle. I often split my long bamboo sections and my horizontal sections. I split one side but leave the other side intact. The intact side acts like a hinge, if I am careful, and the split side permits me to view where the eggs are laid. Cutting near the joints works. Do you have plants in there? Mine generally lay in the Sansevieria.

 

[Kevin McRae]

Thanks for the replies.

I have Sansevieria in the enclosure however she chooses to lay in the vertical bamboo...which is fine by me. I've had other gecko species lay in Sansevieria.

 

[GiantDayGecko.com]

When a female likes to lay in the same spot in the bamboo you might as well make it easy on yourself and make some sort of access hole. This access hole also allows you a quick visual to discover if a new clutch is ready to be extracted instead of moving the entire bamboo and having to use a flashlight to look down the length of the bamboo tube.

Please come join the Phelsuma grandis group. You can find it by following this link: Geckos Unlimited - Social Groups. Thanks and hope to see you there.

Jon
Day Geckos - The finest captive bred Phelsuma since 1993!