Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My crested gecko egg keep molding just as they're ready to hatch. They're incubated at around 77 degrees in coconut fiber. I thought maybe the substrate had something to do with it. I couldn't find any vermiculite, but I was windering if I could incubate in perilite? Does anybody know? Mom is fed on CGD and crickets with a little extra liquid calcium. Is there something else that could be going on?
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

if they mold over its not always substrate. this happens with my bad leopard and halmahera eggs within the first couple of days. if they're good when they come out and die before incubated they'll mold over

But they're always almost fully formed. They mold over just towards the end, if I cut the eggs open I find almost fully formed geckos.
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

i have cresties and coconut fiber saoks up to much moisture and dries out to quick. lowes and home depot carry vermiculite. perlite dries out to quick. what is the humidity in the room that you are keeping them in. i had the same problem losing eggs. now i put my eggs in vermiculite in a 10in petrie dish and put them intop of a closet and they hatch out fine now.
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5.7.3 crested gecko
1.0 amelanistic corsnake
0.0.1 Mexican Boa
2.2 ball python
2.2 bearded dragon
1.0 fiesty dog
0.1 ferret

I live in a dorm, so I cant change room humidity much from standard, around 30% I think. Ive been to several home depots, and can't get vermiculite. How much air movement should be going on? I was told that i should cover the container with taught cellophane to allow an air pocket and only open it once a week to allow for air exchange and then reseal. Is this wrong?
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

i have never heard of that. my dishes which are 10in have just two holes in it. for air circulation. that seems like to much work with the cellophane and might risk damaging the eggs in the process.
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5.7.3 crested gecko
1.0 amelanistic corsnake
0.0.1 Mexican Boa
2.2 ball python
2.2 bearded dragon
1.0 fiesty dog
0.1 ferret

Not really, you just stretch cellophane over the container. In place of a top. But it prevents air circulation while in place.
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

what works for me is to use a deli cup and poke several holes in the lid with a pushpin. you should never have to open the lid if you do that. if you don't have any holes, you will have to open the lid and let the air exchange every few days. perlite would be better than coconut fiber, but i've found vermiculite at any hardware store with a garden department. with either substrate, make sure there is enough water so that when you squeeze a handful really hard, a drop of water almost comes out but doesn't. this should hold the humidity throughout incubation time. but mold can be a sign of too much humidity, not too little. coconut fiber probably doesn't allow much circulation of gases under the eggs. there could be other problems with the embryos themselves as well. is it a first-time breeder?
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3.1 snakes, 1.2.1 crested geckos, 2.0 devon rex cats, 1.0 betta

She's not a first time breeder. This happened last year. She laid about twelve eggs, two were infertile, two hatched, the rest all died and molded right before hatching.
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

Using coco fiber is a huge no no. Use vermiculite, perlite, a mixture of the two. Or you can use diomite. I know a breeder that hatches out on that. Two part water to every one part substrate.

But really, maybe you should save your self a head-ache and get some hatchrite. They sell it at pangea. It's premoistened. :
Hatchrite