Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I came home tonight to fine a white spherical object on top of the moss. And I surmise it's an egg.

It's against the glass of tank, and so a small portion of it is flattened just a bit.

Now that I have an egg..how do I know if its fertile or not??

I have misplaced my vermiculite and will have to get some tomorrow.

In the mean time, can I just leave it on top of the moss till tomorrow night? I won't spray them down or feed them tonight to avoid any possible egg cracking and such by dive bombing geckos.

But I would like any suggestions.
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

If its attached to the glass, its infertile...
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Ben

hey thanks Ben.

I have a silly question, I just looked at it..and just pused my finger down on the moss, and the egg came away from the glass..not fall mind you....it's attached to the moss a bit.

The egg mass seems a bit soft..I didn't touch it..but I could tell as I pushed down on the moss, a subtle change on egg shape as it came away from the glass..

Still infertile??

IF so, how did you know it was?
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

if it is fertile it will not really stick to anything and will have a harder shell. if it was fertile you would very easily be able to pick it up and it wouldn't dent/cave in. i've had my lineatus stick them to just about anything in the cage when they're not fertile. stuck to the glass, vines, branches...

ah..thanks...tha's helpful!!

So if fertile..they should have be more like small marble sized chicken eggs...somewhat rigid
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

...very rigid... hard shelled... prefectly round...
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Ben

I would think so...but I have never seen real eggs in person before...thanks a lot Ben
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

The color is a dead giveaway too. Anything with a yellow tint, soft, misshapen, stuck to a leaf, branch, or out in the open. Fertile eggs are at least somewhat hidden and on the ground in my experience.

We just finished our new Uro cage, and discovered 3 species are gravid, 2 additional that we arent sure just yet.

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/albums/userpics/DSCN7923.JPG

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/albums/userpics/DSCN7947.JPG

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/albums/userpics/DSCN7910.JPG

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/albums/userpics/DSCN7926.JPG

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/albums/userpics/DSCN7938.JPG

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/albums/userpics/DSCN7942.JPG
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www.wildeyereptiles.com

Chameleons, geckos & invertebrates

AWESOME!!! That's a great enclosure.
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ryan
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Uroplatus sikorae

My other half built it for me this weekend. He is so good about stuff like that, I tell him what I want and he builds it... our next project is a newt take with a "rock" partially submerged background..
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www.wildeyereptiles.com

Chameleons, geckos & invertebrates

Leah,

In the last two links you posted, are those U.ebanaui? Great colors on them. Do you have photos of their back's?

Cheers,
Jason

Yes, they are U. ebanaui. I have all kinds of pics of them.

Heres the gallery:

http://www.wildeyereptiles.com/cpg132/thumbnails.php?album=13
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www.wildeyereptiles.com

Chameleons, geckos & invertebrates

Would you mind giving the names the plants you've used?
Thanks!
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ryan
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Uroplatus sikorae

Sure, send me an email reminder, I'll check the tags for you tongiht.

All of them came from lowes and the ones I know off the top of my head are parlor palm, speckled/spotted pothos, ficus, schefflera, caladium, creeping fig.
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www.wildeyereptiles.com

Chameleons, geckos & invertebrates

..... rock my world!.....
i need to get another group.....

I forgot I had this picture on my profile... In the foreground is a fertile egg, and in the background is a slug... Sometimes the infertiles will be a little more round than this, but thats about the only thing that changes from this picture (other than hardshelled, seemingling fertile eggs that don't hatch)... Hope this helps...

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Ben

heres a pic of an infertile pietschmanni egg i had earlier this summer.

Don't crucify me, but I heard spanish moss is not good for small reptiles and amphibians due to something that grows on it. It wouldn't hurt to look into it as a possible cause to your laying female's death.
Ashton

dont worry, im not gonna crucify you for mentioning that. ill try to look up what i can on the subject since you mentioned it, although that female actually kept away from it compared to my other geckos. let me know if you can pin down a source for me for that, and in the meanwhile ill take it out just in case, till i get a better chance to take a second look at her.

yea, i tried looking up what i could on google, but nothing about any threat from spanish moss. i actually found out zoo med sells little packages of the stuff. quite a few websites quote it as a perfectly fine decoration/substrate.

Hey bsmith!

How do you incubate your Uroplatus eggs? What type of container do you use?

Thanks,
Dedekind

Thanks a lot Ben...I can't tell as well, but mine def. didn't look as spherical as the fertile one...looked more like the one in the background, wish you had a better pic.

What do you incubate yours in??
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

The setup I use was designed from Kelly Sharp's setup... Basically, I have about an inch and half of vermiculite in a polyacrylic tote... sitting on the vermiculite is fine mesh to keep the babies from contacting it... on that sits an icecube tray, in each slot I have inserted a block of foam with a divot cut for the egg to rest in (helps air movement around the entire egg)... It took some experimenting to get the right amount of holes drilled into the lid and sides of the tote... As I have it, its a nearly prefect balance between air movement and the proper humidity... I keep it at room temperature or slightly below... this picture might help a little...

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Ben

that little guy is like... so what do i do now?

Thanks!
-Dedekind

Do you know the volume of the container?

How do you maintain humidity? Do you mist the vermic. before you put the eggs in? during (which I don't think people do?)

Thanks that's a helpful picture
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

Humidity has been kept by drilling holes in the lid and the sides of the tote, in which case, it took me a good week or so (before eggs went in) to be sure I had the right number of holes drilled for the correct humidity and air movement... To keep this humidity, the vermiculite is basically saturated in water... I never let water contact the eggs... To ensure the proper humidity, if the vermiculite feels a little dry, I pour a little bit more water in... Pretty simple... The tote is roughly 3 gallons (14 x 4.5 x 10.5)...
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Ben