Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yesterday before I left, I noticed one of my eggs had hatched(his clutchmate still unhatched), so I went to work and figured I would take care of it when I got home(I leave them in for a few hours to make sure they absorb the yolk, have time to adjust to being alive etc...).
I get home and check on him and all appears well, until he starts to scurry and I notice that it is deformed. The back legs are only half there, like the lower half never formed, but each nub does have a single toe on it. The front legs are there and operational, but each foot missing one toe. It has now been 24 hours since hatching and the little one is still alive but I can only wonder for how long. Anyone else have something like this happen to them? How long can I expect it to live?
The clutchmate hatched overnight, but was dead by the time I got to it, but was also fully formed.
Thanks for any replies.

I don't have any experience with leos that have been born with deformities, but I did have a chameleon with a bend in its spine that I'm sure occurred because I incubated the egg at too high a temperature. She lived a good long life in spite of it.

I also have a uro that I volunteered to look after that has part of both of the back legs missing. I guess he didn't have any other deformities internally because he has been with me for about three years now and is still going strong. The other problem with him is that his growth is stunted. This uro's deformities likely came from too high an incubation temperature too.

Maybe you should check the temperature in your incubation set-up with a separate thermometer to make sure its set right? It could even be that one area of the incubator is slightly hotter than any other areas....that's what happened to my chameleon egg.

Its still possible that there is some other reason for the deformity that has nothing to do with the incubation.

Sorry that you lost the clutchmate too. Sad when they don't even get to have a life at all.

thanks for the reply! i figured if i got any response it would be from a cham board regular
from what you said, it is probably high temps. it's been getting really hot here and i have no a.c., but i am in a basement so it's a little cooler, but the incubator took on some extra heat and did it.
knowing that other herps have survived give me hope little nubby(the geckos new name) will survive and live a full life. the only thing i'm worried about is shedding, but i imagine i can help a little bit if need be. thanks again!

Although chameleons are my passion, I also keep a number of other reptiles!

You said..."it is probably high temps"...that's the usual thing...but I'm sure there can be other causes of deformities too.

You said..."knowing that other herps have survived give me hope little nubby(the geckos new name) will survive and live a full life"...I like the name and I hope he will survive well in spite of his "handicap".

You said..."the only thing i'm worried about is shedding, but i imagine i can help a little bit if need be"...Yup! But I'll bet he can/will do it by himself!

you were right! not only did she(that's what she was for in the first 2 weeks!) shed, but did it on her own! nubby seemed like the only reasonable name given the situation haha. thanks for the reply!

Fluctuation in temperatures during incubation can cause some bad deformities. If the temps get really high and then drop really low really fast, even a few times, it will cause problems. Most are internal such with bone or organs. Also really high constant temps (like 90*F ) for more than 30 days can cause the embryo to form too fast and/or raise the mortality rate.
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