Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if there was any good way to incubate eggs without removing them(although isolating them) from the cage. I currently have a 90 gallon with a 12" sandbed on one side and it gradually slopes to a 4" depth at the far end of the cage. I have a Zoo Med Slider hood with a 150 watt night bulb, a full spectrum flourecent bulb, and a 100 watt Zoo Med Powersun bulb. Also I have a dome light with a 150 watt basking bulb in it. I also have incorperated a nesting chamber into the tank that is 1.5' square and filled 1/2 way barely damp sand(not calci sand). It can be closed off from the rest of the cage and has 1 vent hole on the top that is 1" squared and 2 vents on the side that are 1" by 2". Is there any way that I can just leave the eggs(once they are laid) in this chamber to incubate w/o transporting them into an incubator? My first experience with dragon eggs ended in a complete loss even though they were fertile(all of them had lots of veins)when they were laid and I tried moved them into a homemade incubator. If you have any suggestions please let me know. I thought about mixing the vermiculte with the sand in the nesting chamber.

I doubt moving them was the problem that caused the loss of the other clutch. They are actually pretty tough. They need to be placed in the incubator in the position you find them in.

I don't think leaving them in the tank is a good idea. They need to be in a controled temp (82-84 degrees) in moist vermiculite with humidity.
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www.classylizard.com

How about a box in the chamber that is part sand & vermiculite for laying than, that could be lifted out and placed in a incubator, with out disturbing the eggs at all, is this possible?

I'm gonna get flamed for this one... but there is no vermiculite in a Dragon's natural habitat. I know we aren't keeping them under very natural conditions, but there is nothing wrong with incubating your eggs inside the enclosure. It's simple really... find a thermometer with a indoor/outdoor read... the one with the 6 foot long wire to check outdoor temps works well, and can be had at home depot for about $12.00. Fill your nesting box with the proper medium, whatever you plan to use... moisten it a bit, and bury the wire at about the center of the box. Put your vented cover on it, and add a heat lamp or IR heat emmiter over the top of it. Adjust the height of the lamp over the box until the temperature inside reads about 80-84 degrees fahrenheit. Now, turn the lamp off and remove the cover to wait for laying time. After your female digs her nest, and starts laying eggs, place the wire for your thermometer behind her just before she starts filling her hole back up. This will give you an exact reading of the temperature around the eggs, and will give your dragons a chance to hatch naturally.

The only problem with this method, and I admit that there is one... is that most of our females like to dig to the bottom of whatever container they are in, often puting the eggs 10-12 inches deep under heavy sand and soil. If this is the case in your laying box, you may indeed want to move the eggs to a incubator, since you don't really want them to have to dig through a foot of dirt after working for 2 hours to pop their shell. The coolest thing about reptiles hatching from their natural habitat however, is that the first dragon to hatch will make it far easier for the others to subsequently hatch. As the lead dragon digs for the sky, the dirt he drops below him will actually fall UNDER the unchatched eggs because they are moving... this only happens in a natural laying environment, where by the female packing down the dirt after laying, she makes layers that hold themselves up until they are designed to fall below the eggs. Each dragon that hatches will bring the entire clutch closer to the surface, and the last dragon to hatch, I.E. the weakest one, will have much less work to do to get out of the nest.

It is also difficult, but not impossible to check on the status of the eggs during a natural incubation, but if you are breeding to prolong the species, then this is ok... if you are breeding for profit, then you may want to go with the tried and true method of isolated incubation.

Thank you very much. I am not out for money and wanted to see babies hatch naturally as you were saying. I will let everyone know what happens. Thanks for the tips too