Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She was so much bigger than my male we suspected....but now it's certain. The little (no so little actually) girl I waited a month for the pet shop to order in...just laid 7 eggs and is still digging. They're allot bigger than I expected. All look fertile (bloodspots) and they all seemed fresh (no aparent drying/hardening).

I don't have an incubator so prep'd a 1 inch corning ware dish w/mix of very moist sand/fine soil. Place eggs bloodspot up (IS THAT RIGHT???)& put back in the tank w/heat lamp over side w/no eggs. Tank is just reg 10 gal...and not too tall, so don't want to cook them. Have had great luck w/green & brown anole & long tail lizard eggs this way...except in those cases, dish was always part of tank (planted w/succulants) and mom's deposited eggs themselves. Am hoping she may lay any additional eggs there herself....but it's not familiar piece so am keeping my eyes on it.

I've heard the hatch rate is low w/these guys but don't know if that's accurate info. The guy I got her from has (I THINK) an incubator. . .and if it means the difference between hatching and not. . .I may pass the eggs back to him.

What do you guys think? Please share your advice/experience.
Thanks,
Rebecca

The egs of desert lizards do not need the high humidity of snake eggs. If you have used very moist soil, you may have overmoistened the eggs. Reptile eggs should be dry to the touch and firm. The best humidity for desert lizard eggs is potting soil right out of the bag--that light humidity seems just right. Put the eggs on top of the soil--another thing they need is good air circulation. I'd try them in a deli cup with about 2 inches of potting soil right out of the bag, leaving about an nch or two between the soil and the lid and close the lid. Check them after a few hours. If they have shrunken or dented, add some distilled water to the soil around the edges of the cup, but be careful not to wet the eggs directly. After you have adjusted the humidity, put the cup somewhere it won't get too warm--75 to 80 or so, and wait. I don't know for sure how long, but I'd guess 60 to 90 days. As long as the eggs look OK, leave them be. Don't poke them, yell at them, open them to see if they are alive, anything. Dead eggs rot. If they aren't rotting, they are alive. Remember,if things are going well, you will have baby lizards to care for. Somewhere along the incubation period, you should switch your focus from "will the eggs hatch" to "how am I going to feed the babies". Have food and habitat ready when they hatch--don't run around after the fact trying to locate food and put together a rearing cage. Good luck and keep us all posted.

Oh no. From the info in your post, I'm afraid I've already messed up. Not only did I use very moist soil mix. . .I buried them about 1/8" under the soil (modeling, incorrectly, after the way my anoles laid deposited their eggs) and directly wet them to clean enough to see bloodspot well. Well. . .the good news is that mom seems healthy and on the way to recovering her normal weight. Sounds like I've probably drown the eggs, so I won't expect too much, but will try to salvage when I get home tonight anyway. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll lay another clutch this summer (although I've read their season usually ends late spring....correct or not?) and this time I'll be better prepared. . . or maybe I can find an experienced breeder in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. To give them a chance at survival. . .I'd gladly turn over any future clutches.
Thanks for your advice. Will let you know how it goes.
Rebecca

I also live in the DFW metroplex area and I would the chance to hatch any future cluthes of horned lizards you may have. I'm an experienced herper, with an incubator full of leo eggs now and I'm hatching horned lizards would be a very good possiblility. Thanks! My e-mail address is lcrls11@aol.com