A little rotation early on won't hurt anything. The reason that you want to minimize rotation is that the blood vessels etc that are set up to absorb oxygen are forming in the egg and if these form on top and you make the top the bottom you can drown the embryo. Alligator lizard eggs are pretty resilient, but you should still try to keep them in their original orientation. In good eggs, like yours, moisture levels and consistent temperatures will be the most important factors for success. If good eggs go bad, you'll typically see mold, denting (despite sufficient moisture), and / or notice an odor. Infertile eggs are typically poorly calcified so the yolk shows through(hence the yellow color) and there are no blood vessels forming that would give them that subtle pinkish cast that good eggs have. As your eggs near hatching you'll see that pinkish color disappear and the eggs will take on a subtle gray cast.



In terms of the duration of time between copulation and laying, it's variable. Females typically are going to lay about now regardless of when they bred. If they bred early in the season, they'll just store the sperm until the time is right. A lot of times you can tell a wild caught female has bred by flipping her over and looking for a "U" shaped scar on her chin. When breeding, males will grasp the female's head in their mouth and may hold on for over 24 hours. I agree with FunkyRes that both your als look like females and if they were breeding in your care, you'd likely notice.



-Alice

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]