Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi this is my first pair of leos and today i found the female to be incredibly skinny. (normally shes really fat and wide on the sides) and then i saw that all the sand had been shifted to one spot of the cage and then it dawned on me that she had just laid her first clutch of eggs!!! What do i do now??? i dont have anything set up and the eggs are totally buried and im scared to move them because someone told me that if u move them the intiest bit, the egg wont hatch. Can someone who is an expert tell me what to do. I want this to be a successful hatch!!

thnx in advance VERY much appreciated.

If they were laid in sand, then take them out immediately. Sand dries up a egg so if you dont take it out quickly enough, they will dry up. If they already pipped in, that means they dried up. They should be round ovals right now. For now, you need to make a small container that has high humidity. Get some type of STERILE substrate that can hold moisture well such as potting soil, or vermiculite and add water to it till it is moist. Then put your container in a place thats around 80 to 90 degrees.
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My Site

even if they are 'pipped' (indented slightly they will firm up after a couple of days in humid air. any old margarine container or such will do keep the lid on maybe a small hole for air. yes you casn move the eggs just be gentle and keep them same side up dont turn them. if they are fertile they should do fine. goodluck =)
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'the dragon does not concern himself with the grasshopper.'

where can i get vermiculite??
thnx for replying

any florist should sell vermiculite,
you can order it online too, but it will take too long.
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My Site

Argghh they are dented and they can specks of sand stuck to it?
how can i tell if its still fertile???

They could just be a little dry. Put them in a bed of potting soil or vermiculite and lay a damp papertowel over the top of the eggs. If they didn't dry out too much, they may fill back out and be fine. Just because they're a little dented does not mean that they are infertile...try to incubate them anyway and see what happens.

yeah i dont know what size small dents are but this one seems rather big and goes whole length of the egg. also at one end of the egg theres a dark yellow thing thats inside, is that the yolk??????

That's too bad, I know the feeling because I lost my first eggs of this season the same way. You can try to revive them, but don't get your hopes up. She will be laying more in a few weeks time though so you have another chance so don't worry!

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

First determine if the eggs are still alive. If they are yellowish or oozy then they are infertile and you should just throw them out. If they are dry and dented in then they have dehydrated over night (that's why you need a laying box) and the embryos are most likely dead. If they are white and firm, they are still good, and you must remove them to a nice container filled with damp perlite or vermiculite for incubation. DO NOT ROLL THE EGGS OVER!!! Keep the container between 80-90 degrees (a stable temp is prefered).

One question...if the female has a humid hide she would have laid in there...leos NEED a humid hide!

Feed the female as much as she wants but dust all the insects with miner-all first.

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

she does have a humid hide but its not with anything comfortable, its basically a container with paper towels at the bottom thats been misted and ive palced it over the heat pad so the water could evaporate. She actually laid her eggs in the food dish and then covered it over that calci sand stuff.
Question for next time
can potting soil replace that perlite, vermuculite stuff??