Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Nope, I don't have any collared lizard eggs yet, but my girlfriend has a flying gecko egg. About a week ago, she called to tell me that when she was looking at it with a flashlight, she could see a big red blood vessel inside the egg.

I thought certainly a dead or unfertilized egg couldn't fake a red blood vessel! So anyway, I wonder if there is such a thing visible on a collared lizard egg during the early stages?

If I had a clutch of eggs from my collared lizards, the first thing I would want to know is if they were fertilized and growing or not. Seeing a big red blood vessel a few weeks into the incubation just might be a good way to find out...

Any comments or wisdom from those of you who are experienced in such things?
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ETChipotle

I use a small pen flashlight that has a small focused beam of light. In a dark room, you can shine the pen light through the side of the egg, and see that it is light pink in color. You should see small tiny veins, and also a pink spherical disc shape on the surface of the egg. I've read that the embryonic disc (so it is called) floats up to the surface of the egg sometime soon after deposition, and attaches itself. This is why it is so important not to rotate (or juggle) the eggs after they are eggs. The embryos will suffocate.

John Eddington

Have not seen them in awhile.

You are going to have a good time in the Spring, LOL will look forward to many EGGS - A - HATCHIN LOL

Have to see your girlfriends flying gecko babies also, they are cool ! Eve

To be honest, we haven't really had much cold weather. It's mostly been between 15 and 45 degrees. So the basement isn't really getting that cold yet. Once they go down for the winter, I'd just as soon keep them down until April, so the longer I can wait, the better.

Of course, once they go down for the winter, my poor cat will miss them greatly!

I've recently realized that they are not my collared lizards, they are hers. She watches them 10 times as much as I do! I'm just the guy with opposing thumbs who can feed them crickets.
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ETChipotle

The gecko laid an egg on the bark, and she actually has kind of a small bug infestation in the terrarium. It seems that they ate the egg.

The second egg was laid a week later ???? They are supposed to lay two eggs at a time, 30 days apart. The second egg was a fair amount bigger, and was laid on a plastic removeable fake log that she has in the terrarium. So she was able to separate this one into an aquarium for incubation. She did not change the orientation of the egg, since the fake log rests on the ground in the same position.

Perhaps the first egg was a blank, or something, and was laid early to get rid of it.

Hatch date should be early February. Seems like an aweful long time to me. Also, we should get another clutch soon! She's a big girl, but I can't tell when she's gravid.
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ETChipotle