Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Forgive my ignorance (keep in mind I am originally a dart frog guy), but how easy is it to locate their eggs if they are not laid in a container you place there-- in other words, if they just randomly lay in the dirt, will you ever know?
Best,
Justin

Well let me tell you what happened to me today...

I house my two cresteds in a large naturalistic vivarium and today I had to take it apart, too many loose crickets and it was just too crowded with plant growth. Anyways I found 6 eggs in total, and I never even knew she was pregnant.

Oh goodness, that was what I was afraid to hear. If you put a laying box in the tank, will you have better luck having them lay in there?
Best,
Justin

I couldnt really say, as it was naturalistic I didnt want a large rubbermaid container in there messing up he look. I had about 3-4 inches of substrate, a bed-a-beast soil mix, and about 4 or 5 plants in there, one was a potho that grew like a vine and covered pretty much the entire bottom of the tank. A large hollow piece of bark that the female liked to hide in, as a few silk plants placed a little higher in the tank to fill in the spots that were lacking in color. One set of eggs I found at the base of the large hollow piece of bark. Another set was found at the base of the ground covering pothos, and the third was found along the back wall of the tank. All three sets were buried a good inch or 2 in the substrate. Probably the reason I never found them before when looking.

One of the three sets looks like they were the victims of crickets... the other two sets look healthy, with one set rather large. Almost as wide s they are long, making more of a perfect sphere than an elongated one. Hopefully they hatch soon. Ive never hatched crested geckos before so Im not sure how big the eggs get before they hatch.

Ive now set them up with a less than naturalistic vivarium with a laying box and what not, dont want to lose anymore eggs to crickets. Good Luck.

I put a container with moist soil in one corner of their cage. I've seen Gandalf digging and laying around in the dirt for a number of weeks. Yesterday I actually witnessed her laying her eggs in the container. What a thrill that was.

Randi

First, look at the animal. There is usually quite a change in weight (girth) after laying and often a bit of "rubber jaw" from calcium depletion. This is an indicator that eggs have been layed and the animal now needs a bit more supplement and food.

Second, she will pick a wet area to lay in. She will be seen in those areas digging and generally checking out those places. As they usually spent all their active time up high, poking around on the ground is a tip off. Mine usually pick the laying box (if it is kept moist), a potted plant in the cage or in rare instances the substrate near the water dish as it gets wet from spillage. Keeping the substrate dry and not very deep will discourage laying randomly. Once you establish a clutch has just been deposited, then timing will be important as the next lay will be in 30 to 40 days.
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