Posted by:
eric adrignola
at Mon Apr 3 11:17:43 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by eric adrignola ]
Wild female veields do not lay nearly that many eggs. If veileds lay more than 40 eggs, they will often have shorter lives. When overfed, female veileds will lay huge clutches of tiny eggs. Females laying over 60 eggs typically die very young - often after the first or second clutch.
A female that lays 20-35 eggs on average will be much healthier and longer lived. Furthermore, the eggs are much larger, and the babies huge by comparison.
Because my female was raised by another breeder, I didnt' want to take chances with her getting MBD - so I kept her ona heavy feeding schedule until her first clutch. It was huge by my standards - 41 eggs. However, she was in great condition coming out of the nest, despite working all night to finish it all up. I estimate her second clutch will be no more than 30 eggs.
Normally, the eggs from a good, small clutch will be leopard gecko-egg sized when they are about to hatch (and these are not overwatered, swollen eggs!) The eggs from a much larger clutch will be 2/3 the size, at best. The babies are very big - many 3" total length at hatching Though this is also due to the temperatures of incubation as well as egg-health.
Our first WC female laid 67 and 65 eggs, all tiny little eggs. Both times, she was emaciated going into th enest chamber - no matter how much we fed her. This little girl I have now (who is HALF the size of the big WC female)laid 41 eggs, but looked plump and healthy when she climbed out.
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More eggs isn't better than fewer... - eric adrignola, Mon Apr 3 11:17:43 2006