Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm only familiar with breeding leopard geckos but my female chuck is about ready to pop. Do I just let her dig her own spot in the outdoor enclosure and let nature take it's course, or is there a way to get the eggs and incubate them myself? I have my leopard geckos in a big incubator with high humidity but I still have plenty of Hovabators to set up for the chucks.
Also, what temp and humidity do I incubate at,. if I'm able to retrieve the eggs?

Thanks for any help,
Rick
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Rick-Geckoland USA

I'm not sure as to what your setup currently consists of, but here's what I would try. I would dig a depression (if you are on the natural ground) and burry a semi-large plastic box in the ground...make some type of artificial cover rock that will rest over the top of the buried box. Allow access on one end...or let them dig their own access by leaving a crevice opening. If you have a bottom in your outdoor setup, I think you could put a tub full of dampened sand, and put a nice flate rock of the majority of it.

John E.

Thanks, Johne.
I have a a Gus Renthro type outdoor enclosure but with a solid Durock bottom and 14" of dirt. I'll try the buried tupperware setup with a rock over it.

What mix of substrate material should I use? I have vermiculite in my geckos' egg boxes. Would that work or should I use something like washed Playsand?
Thanks,
Rick

I'm not familiar with chucks, but if it were me, I'd try a mix of playsand and vermiculite. I have a feeling, they will dig in wherever they want in that 14" of dirt :O) What is the durorock base you speak of? Like a road pack?

John E.

I think I'm spelling it correctly. It's a 4' x 8' sheet like drywall except it's a sheet of concrete. It's used as a base for laying floor tile on. I'm still designing my backyard so I didn't want to pour the floor yet. I'm still getting my wife used to the idea of herp friendly landscaping. hehehe!

My herp landscaping with my wife went something like this...

wife: "I want you to build me a nice large deck."

Me: "Only if I can include my lizard pen in the design."

wife: "hmmmmm. Deal."

I built a two level deck in which the upper level and lower level for a nice 90 angle which made an excellend blace to back my pen into. From my upper level (only 4 foot high) I can look right down into my pen, or sit on my steps right next to the pen. The lower level is still looking down into the pen. I used deck boards as verticals to cover all the liner material that Gus uses for walls in his cages. It looks morelike a jacuzzi from the outside now. I also trimmed out the top frame with deck boards so it would go more with the railing on my deck. If you haven't seen it posted here before, I'll get some new pictures up.

John E.

Post pics or the link to the old post. I need something to work with, LOL! I've got a few designs in mind but i've got to go with a proven winner first. : )

This first one is a shot of what the two decks look like, and you can see how they crete the inside corner for the pen which is visible in the left side of the shot...

the next picture I took today. This hides the fact that the lower deck is now gone. My wife made me take it up and move it to the back of the yard, closer to the pool. I started to dig a pond where it was sitting.

The last pic it the view I see everytime I go outside. I like to plop my butt down right on these steps and have a peek down into the pen. Yesterday I watched one of my yellowhead collareds trying to mate with a female. He got the bite and hold part of mating down, but didn't know what to do after that.

The lid was badly damaged over winter due to large amounts of snow that stacked up on that netting. I used bird netting to keep out any pests. This year, I just keep the lid centered up. I think it discourages any type of bird of prey from swooping down for a grab, but definately would not keep out cats. So far I've been lucky.

John E