Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've had leos for about 3 years and this was the very first time i have had fertile eggs (i think -- i looked at them with a flashlight and one i saw a red ring and the other had about half of the egg dark as opposed to ALL of the other times i saw NOTHING in the egg). anyway, how often should i handle the eggs to make sure that they are still "good"? should i just leave them be and wait 6 weeks to see what happens? any advice from successful breeders is very much appreciated.

jason

You actually don't HAVE to check them at all until you start getting close to hatching date. Most people do it because we're addicted to our leos =). I usually do it after about 1 or 2 weeks of incubating. You should be able to tell if they are fertile by then. Otherwise, just check for the hatchlings when the eggs start getting close to hatching day. The eggs should seem to inflate quite a bit, and they look like they will explode. You may also notice sweating. When this happens, I take it as a sign to check for hatchlings once or twice a day (usually about 2 or 3 days out). Here's a list of incubation times:

79-82 degrees : female : around 60 days
84-86 degrees : mixed : around 45 days
87-89 degrees : Male : around 30 days

Also note those times are approximate.

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Brian Skibinski
Milwaukee Reptiles