When does egg season start? Help? GDG's

[ButterflyGirl89]

Hi all! First of all I want to say thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and help out. You're awesome.

Anyway, when should I expect eggs again?

Also, this will be my 2nd breeding season ever. My happy couplet of giant day geckos gave me like 5 batches of eggs last year. But it was the first time for both my girl and I and I only got 3 living babies out of the whole thing. (1 batch was unviable, and ants got another batch. ) For the record, I originally thought I bought 2 adult females and wasn't even going to try a male.

She chose 4 laying sites last time, and that's what concerns me. 1 of those sites was either in the water or close enough to it that the eggs fell into the shallow pool and got mushy/unviable. Was that a first timer's thing or could that happen again?
Another site was right on a ledge in the terrarium, and another was up high between a cork round and the exoterra 3d background. She did choose a normal bamboo place twice, but it seemed super hard for her to get into the bamboo to lay and that worries me.

Should I just leave things as they are and keep a lookout for eggs all over the terrarium/inside the bamboo, or should I try to make more 'official' type laying sites? The bamboo she chose is vertical, hot horizontal with a hole like I see a lot of people do.

I also would like to be better at incubating my eggs this time to hopefully get more little sweeties come into the world, so any advice there is appreciated too!

Sorry I'm such a newbie. I've got their regular care down. But breeding and eggs is a whole other ball game.

Thanks again for any and all help!!

 

[daggekko]

Post some photos of their setup. My first thought is that something is wrong with their general care/health. Last year I hatched out about 10 eggs from my pair of P. laticauda from the adult enclosure. I never pulled the eggs out and had success hatching them this way. P. grandis should also be able to have this happen.

Water features normally are not needed with Phelsuma. I'm not saying that you have to get rid of it, but it something that should be thought about.

My geckos tend to lay eggs in the same spot over and over and over. My enclosures tend to be at a fairly stable temperature though and I do believe the temperature is what causes them to choose where they want to lay them. Bamboo is typically chosen over most other spots, but some will lay them inbetween plant leaves. Sansevieria(snake plant) is an excellent plant for Phelsuma.

My biggest thoughts are that the temperatures and humidity might be wrong at points in the day. If you can provide photos, please also provide temperature and humidity info as well.

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

Here's some photos that I had on hand. Everything is pretty much the same. The vertical branch in the far back of the tank is where she layed 2 of her clutches.
I got them from a guy on craigslist last year and had only had them for a couple weeks before they mated. The previous owner only fed them babyfood and crickets (ugh.). Needless to say, my girls calcium sacs were nowhere near where I thought they should be when I got them, and I had to wean them off the babyfood. Now her and her sacks always seem nice and fat, as they are obviously on repashy day gecko diet with a steady supply crickets, dubia, wax and silkworms. He had them in an 18x18x24. The pictures of their current home is a 24x18x24.

The highest branch in the front is typically around 90 during the day and ambient temp midway down the tank is around 83. I use digital probes. At night these same areas get to around 70-75.
Admittedly, I don't monitor humidity. Because none of the hygrometers I've ever bought continue to work/stick for more than a month. However I have a mistking system with 2 nozzles set up and it's set to go off 4 times a day for 10 to 15 seconds each. Just enough to create a light coat of water on leaves and branches but not enough to cause a lot of wetness in their substrate.

I don't like the idea of getting rid of my water feature. Yes, I have the mistking, but I've seen my geckos go down to the waterfall in the back and drink from there. I think they prefer it.

 

[KingOfTheNorth]

I agree with daggekko, I am sure temperature plays a large role in where the female will choose to lay her eggs. In the fall one of my very gravid females was trying to go into a piece of bamboo that was just too small for her for days. I figured she was trying to lay her eggs but she kept doing it for 4-5 days in a row, trying to get into the bamboo which was right under the heat lamp. This confused me because there were other places to lay them. I had even placed a paper towel tube with a cup fitted onto the bottom which she laid her eggs in the last 2 seasons. So I moved the paper towel tube closer to the heat lamp and she laid her eggs there within minutes of me moving it.