Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I had two tokay geckos up until about 2 and a half months ago when I unfortunately had to put my female to sleep due to an illness. I still have a male.

Jump forward to today, when I was cleaning the cage out. I was soaking a small fake tree thing and some foliage in a bleach solution while I scrubbed out the walls of the cage. When I came back to get the foliage and tree and rinse them off, I found an egg in the container they were soaking in.

The female must have attached the egg to the inside of the tree (it's one of those hollow plastic things)...is there any possibility that the egg is still viable? It soaked in a bleach solution for about 20 minutes the day I put her to sleep, and it was soaked another 20 minutes today.

If it's possibly still viable, what do I do with it now? The shell is still intact where it detached from whatever it was attached to.

If there's really no chance that it's viable, has anyone ever dissected a tokay egg? If so, any tips on how to do it? I'm a biologist, ever curious about these things, and it'd be a waste if this little gecko gave its life and nothing came of it.

Thanks.

Because of the presence of free chlorine bleach is highly reactive with many of the organic and biochemical elements found in living organisms. The membrane of the egg would also be highly permeable to the compound. It is possible for the egg to still be viable, but not likely. Even if it where, various developmental mutations could result from exposure to the highly reactive compound. It may be best for the sake of the potential tokay that you freez the egg to prevent if from developing further. As for disecting the egg, saturate it with water to moisten the leathery shell. It will be much easier to cut it open without cracking it. I would use a scalple and needle tipped tweezers. Hope this helps and good luck.