Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a pair of long tailed grass lizards. the female dug a hole in the dirt of a potted plant and layed 3 tic tac mint sized, and shaped, eggs in it yesterday. she only kicked a little dirt on them and they were mostly uncovered. i havnt moved or touched them yet, only covered them over with peat moss and misted, as they were denting in.

i have been reading the forums for info on lizard egg care, but havnt found anything specific really to long tails. unless someone has better info, i will go with some general care info gathered from the forums.

1 - move them to a dish of vermiculite, covered 3/4 of the way

2 - keep at regular tank temps (80s)

3 - keep damp but not wet

Q - should i move them at all???

Q - if so, should i cover the dish?

Q - should i cover the eggs compleatly? (the 3/4 info was on aligator lizards)

Q - i read you should not turn the eggs... mine are laying flat and upright both... should they all be laying flat when i move them?

Q - how long before they hatch, if they do?

Q - as the eggs are tic tac size, the babys are going to be tiny!!! what on earth to feed them??? as we live in the boonies, our pet store only has 1 size of crickets... and that varys from medium to large. what else can these lizards eat?

Q - are the eggs safe in the tank with the male and female long tails, and 1 house gecko? (30 gal tank) and will the babys be safe in there?

these are my first lizards, (several months and no problems yet, other than an attacking anole that i got rid of) but iv no clue on raising babys yet. any help at all would be greatly appreciated! thanks

you can see (bad) pics of my lizards and the tank here. a close up of the eggs is at the bottom.

1 - move them to a dish of vermiculite, covered 3/4 of the way --That should work. Make sure vermic. has been squeezed of most of the water.

2 - keep at regular tank temps (80s). --I would say to incubate between 82-84F.

3 - keep damp but not wet --Put eggs in a plastic container with a few small holes in the lid/sides. Calibrate the incubator first to 82-84F- before putting the container w/eggs into it. Orient the eggs in the same direction they were layed.

Q - should i move them at all??? When the incubator is set-up & the vermic. holding container is ready, then carefully move the eggs into it.

Q - if so, should i cover the dish? Cover the container, but again make sure there are a few holes to have bit of air circulation & preventing the eggs from "drowning".

Q - should i cover the eggs compleatly? (the 3/4 info was on aligator lizards) . The general rule is 2/3 to 3/4 covered eggs.

Q - i read you should not turn the eggs... mine are laying flat and upright both... should they all be laying flat when i move them? I would try to keep the eggs oriented in the directions that they were layed.

Q - how long before they hatch, if they do? I'm not sure about hatch-times--you may be able to find this on the net--for Takydromus stejnegeri, it's approx. 38-42 days.

Q - as the eggs are tic tac size, the babys are going to be tiny!!! what on earth to feed them??? as we live in the boonies, our pet store only has 1 size of crickets... and that varys from medium to large. what else can these lizards eat? I would suggest calcium w/ vitamin dusted: flightless fruitflies or try breeding lobster roaches-Naupheta cinerea(1st or 2nd instars), baby mealworms, etc. You can breed the crix if you have patience & hatch the eggs.

Q - are the eggs safe in the tank with the male and female long tails, and 1 house gecko? (30 gal tank) and will the babys be safe in there? I would suggest to not leave the eggs in the tank as there is a potential for cannibalism w/ the adult Takys & anole.

tyvm for your reply lizardman, and all the good information!

sorry i didnt make it clear earlyer, but i dont have an incubator. unless i can juryrig something. or just keep them in the lizard tank, under the light.

im still debating leaving them in the tank, in more natural conditions, or moving them to a covered dish (in tank). they do after all lay them like this in the wild, so you would think it should work ok.

o and the vermiculite i couldnt find today, so perlite will have to do.

Q - could they maybe eat ants? or somethin else i can catch myself? i live in the country, so bugs are all over the place, and we do catch crickets later in the season when they are out. i havnt found anything yet on what they eat in the wild.

sorry i didnt make it clear earlyer, but i dont have an incubator. unless i can juryrig something. or just keep them in the lizard tank, under the light. --There are some site on the net that have info on making incubators out of aquarium heaters & picnic cooler totes, etc. You would again need to calibrate with an accurate thermometer before placing eggs into these incubators.

im still debating leaving them in the tank, in more natural conditions, or moving them to a covered dish (in tank). they do after all lay them like this in the wild, so you would think it should work ok. If your tank is within temp. range and doesn't flux too much, you could probably leave them in the tank within a container w/ holes.

o and the vermiculite i couldnt find today, so perlite will have to do. Perlite should work well. Chk. out my previous info on vermic. vs. perlite a few mssgs. down.

Q - could they maybe eat ants? or somethin else i can catch myself? i live in the country, so bugs are all over the place, and we do catch crickets later in the season when they are out. i havnt found anything yet on what they eat in the wild. --With wild-caught insects you're taking a chance w/ possible pesticide or pollution contaminated insects; however, if its in a rather clean area (in the country), small non-toxic insects should work as food.