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I'm thinking I'll have eggs from 4 girls pretty soon.

Can someone tell me their best-luck method of keeping the eggs wet enough but not too wet? Eggs always look like they're getting too dry so I kill them with too much misting. I've been told to keep eggs in a plastic shoebox with a few holes punched into the sides, with Saran Wrap over the top. Is the Saran supposed to stay on for the whole incubation time without being removed? How do I check to see if the eggs are too dry?

I have a Hovabator. What's the exact best temp? If there's a male temp and a female temp, what's the best to produce females?

If there is a small bloody-looking spot on the inside of each egg that shows all the way through to the outside of the shell, does that show that the egg is fertile? If there's no spot, is the egg NOT fertile?

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

Sue Terry

Ok, Not very scientific but it works. I use the fine vermiculite that a lot of people do not agree on but have never lost eggs becuase of it. Get as much as you need and add hot water-I mean soak it. The have your husband grab clumps of it and squeeze as hard as he can like wringing out a wet wash cloth and that is it. Never had a clutch fail using this method. I like to use tupperware or rubbermaid containers with sealable tops. I drill one hole 5/16" in diameter on each side just above the surface line of the vermiculite. Add verm then use your thumb to make an indentation for each egg. Insert eggs so they are buried about halfway in the verm. Then smooth out the verm around the eggs, put the top on and put them in the incubator at anywhere from 88 to 92F. Temp is not that critical. You want to make sure you do nopt let them get too hot later in the incubation proccess becuase that can cause brain problems. Also watch the hovabator temps because I notice with mine they fluctuate a lot with ambient temp fluctuations. If ithey get too hot I just remove the top of the incubator for an hour ar so. Sometimes if the eggs get dry and shrivelled at laying I will lightly mist them after they are set up in the incubator but never again after that. I can usually fit a clutch(up to eight eggs) in each box of about 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" by 2 1/2" inches deep. I can fit 4 of those boxes in each hovabator.

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I have another question for you, Tom. I need a good temperature guage. Is there a brand or a place to look for it? Can you send a picture of what you use? Thanks!!
Maureen

To tell the triuth I have not found one. I have like 4 different thermometers and all read different over a span of 4 degrees. I tend to think the mercury ones are more accurate than digitals. I think a good quality mercury thermometer iss your best bet. Do you have gravid females or eggs?

Hi Tom! I am only suspicious that my female is gravid at this point. She has a thinning tail and spends time hiding, but otherwise looks fine. I cooked a batch of eggs with the last lousy mercury thermometer, which I then compared to others, so I'd like to get it right this time. Thanks.

I have a Hovabator. What's the exact best temp? If there's a male temp and a female temp, what's the best to produce females?

First, I'd like to know about TSD in this genus as well.

Second, Sue; there is not "exact best temp". Nature is NEVER this precise. Temps go up on hot days and go down at night.

When I hatched a lot of north american lizard eggs I put the Hovabator on a timer. 12 hours on at 92F and 12 hours at room temp. The night time lows in our native habitats are cooler than in our homes so even my method wasn't "perfectly natural".

I feel the best baby dragons I hatched back then were incubated this way.
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Thanks for the comments, y'all! Think I'll go get some "verm" and a new mercury thermometer tomorrow. This time maybe I'll have some success when my ladies produce their eggs.

There's one gorgeous, large female who looks gravid. When I picked her up today during cage-cleaning, I noticed that one of the forming eggs along her lower side feels a lot harder than internal eggs usually feel. Internal eggs tyically are very soft and pliable. This lump along the chuck's side feels like an egg that's been laid and gotten a little dry before you notice someone had eggs. Does this sound like an egg from the previous clutch that was retained? Do retained eggs harden over time? Do I need to take her to a vet? Or does this sound OK?