Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friends caught two female Southern Alligator Lizards in there treehouse and made them as pets. And a week ago they both had in all around 20 eggs. The moms buired them in the sand and is gaurding them. And today there were about 10 eggs ( I don't know if the moms ate them or not.) and we moved them with a clean litterbox scooper gently into a container with sand and made the eggs half buired, then we spray water in there just to make it moist. Then they are going to put a lid on it and put it somewere in there house were it's around the 80's. All of the eggs are yellowish and only two aren't shrivle. Is there anything else we need to do? And is there a good chance they will hatch? Thanks!

Yellowish shrivled eggs are typically infertile / nonviable.

Good eggs will be plump and firm with leathery white shells. Eggs should be incubated in a 1:1 ratio of vermiculite and water by weight. Bury them about 2/3rds of the way in this substrate. Use an air tight incubation container and open it once a week to check the eggs and facilitate air exchange. Do not mist the eggs. Getting the eggs wet can drown the embryo.

If you need more info, you can check the replies to some of the previous queries about incubation / eggs.

-Alice

I have a few more questions, What is vermiculite? Is sand alright or do we need to get that? And also I just found out that two of the eggs are white but a little shrivled. Is there anyway to make them plump again? And she also told me that the eggs at first were all white but then a few days later they started to turn yellow and shrivle. Thanks for your help! ^_^

It sounds like they are drying out. Sand does not hold enough moisture. Vermiculite is used in gardening to improve moisture retention in the soil. Because it holds water so well, it makes a great incubation medium. I get mine at Orchard Supply and Hardware in the gardening section. Because of its popularity as an incubation medium, some pet stores also carry it now. If you get it from a nursery or hardware store check the lable and make sure that it doesn't have fertilizers added.

If you want to save the eggs, get some asap. If you bury the eggs 2/3rds of the way your 1:1 ratio of vermiculite and water, they should gradually plump up over the next couple of weeks.

If you can't find vermiculite, look for perlite (this is another soil additive, but it's more widely available; I get mine at Walmart) and use a 1:1 ratio of perlite and water. I use this for my leopard gecko eggs with good results. I've always gotten excellent results (100% hatch) with vermiculite though so I've stuck with it for my al eggs.

-Alice