Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, this came up in a thread below.

Everyone here who uses markers to mark the top of their eggs:

Have you been having a lot of babies die before hatching this season? Also, if you have, what kind of marker have you been using?

Crystal and I have been using a Black permanent marker, and most of our eggs have gotten to the hatching point, and then the babies die for some unknown reason.

Yes, there are several other reasons this might be - but I'm posting this because I've seen SEVERAL other people who are having problems. By this time last year, Crystal had TONS more babies running around - this year, we've managed to hatch ONE. We've got more eggs, but this is getting frustrating and worrisome.

What are some other theories? I remember the theory about the Calcium.

I had another theory, too.. I was being told about the lack of new genetic diversity among Leopard Geckos in the USA.. No WC leos (for obvious reasons - think Middle East). Perhaps they're all getting to the point where they're too related to make successful babies???

What do y'all think?

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
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~~The Gecko Barn~~

genetic diversity, it may very well have some impact...however I highly doubt that it could cause a noticeable difference in hatch rates in one year (I have no idea if anyone was having trouble last year...but obviously a lot of people are this year).
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

. . . something's screwed up with the husbandry of the eggs and/or animals.

That's not to rip you - most people goes through a stretch where they have bad hatch rates. What you do is rip apart and examine your husbandry of the eggs and see what you can do better.

Markers have been used for years with no noticeable effect. I must put out this caveat - I haven't done a search for studies on the topic - but herpers all over have been using this method for years. I use a sharpie and just put a dot or a little light line - I don't color it in.
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Monte Meyer
Powergeckos
Email

No Fru-Fru morphs in the herp room

Yeah, I know.. But that idea was mainly to try to lighten up the mood in here - there's a lot of arguing going on below.

The thing is, we're doing the same thing with the eggs and females this year as we did last year when we had several eggs hatching. Same thing with many other people, from what I understand. That's why it's so disconcerting.

So it's not a lack of husbandry skills - or else several people have just been really luck in past years, including us.

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
@
~~The Gecko Barn~~

OK - let me be clear - I'm not insinuating a lack of skills. I'm saying that there's something in the husbandry that's probably not right. It happens - and you have to really look at everything. Trust me - I've gone through the same thing.

Free your mind, and your tail will follow. LOL. . . .
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Monte Meyer
Powergeckos
Email

No Fru-Fru morphs in the herp room

Do you have any ideas from your own experience? Someplace for us to start looking?

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
@
~~The Gecko Barn~~

I would start with 2 things. Check and see if your incubator is working right. Put a digital thermometer in there - one that has a min/max setting. Put it in for 24 hours and see if there is a big fluctuation. That was my problem - I had a bad incubator that was swining wildly.

The other thing I would check is too wet of a medium.

That's a good starting point . . .
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Monte Meyer
Powergeckos
Email

No Fru-Fru morphs in the herp room

We actually keep a digital thermometer in there all or most of the time... Might need a new one - that's something to think about...

And I know the medium's not too wet... we keep it just wet enough that it packs well, but not so wet that it sticks to everything..

Does that make sense?? I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right...

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
@
~~The Gecko Barn~~

We have had two die and we used red marker. We have 3 in the incubator that are marked with black and are doing fine...We'll see if they hatch.