Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Up until a month or so ago, I hatched my eggs at room temp. out
in the open where daylight and night happened as they do, and
for the longest time, I had phenomenal success with this
crude method. Now that they are in an incubator down in my
root cellar in the dark, where I can keep it set to 75F, they just don't want to hatch! Do they need to be able to sense the passage of time, the progression of day following night? I know this sounds idiotic, but is anyone else out there hatching sucessfully in the dark? I understand that they will take longer at 75F than 85F, but my babies were too weak and teensy when hatched at warmer temps.
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Terri
5:10:7 crested geckos: Bear, Goldfish, Kermit, Brimstone, WildSpatter-Spots-to-Spare, Big Red, Olive, Smudge, Belle, Brilliant, Tina, Brick, Toni, Beauty, Shine, Randi(y), Squeak, Bling, SqueakII, and 3 as-yet-unnamed beauties from Randy May (maybe Stripe, Redhead and Speckles).

i really doubt they do considering they are buried in the wild and incubated naturally, i think the incubation method here is the only style where the egg is exposed and only slightly bured in moist substrate.

even in naturalistic setups they will some times bury there eggs and if you dont find the eggs they will occassionally hatch from incubating in the setup, a guy that runs a local reptile shop has a son with a trio in a natural setup, and he missed the eggs and they hatched out right there in the setup and were buried the whole time. with no exposure to light or anything.
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RhacRoom.com An Online Rhacodactylus Community
www.rhacroom.com

I have had them hatch in my planted tank. After I was able to locate the eggs they were buried 4 inches deep. Now I use tupperware I half bury them and cover with moss. I have always had near perfect hatch rates and light was not a factor. I would look at the temp and moisture more closely. Good Luck

Thanks for the tips. I sure like your idea of moss better than perlite or vermiculite; the next eggs I get I will do that. I can see where that would hold the moisture better than either of the others. As for temp, it is at 75F. I had it warmer but the babies hatched too weak and fragile, not hardy and rambunctious as I'm used to getting them.
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Terri
6:10:7 crested geckos: Bear, Goldfish, Kermit, Brimstone, WildSpatter-Spots-to-Spare, White Lips, Big Red, Olive, Smudge, Belle, Brilliant, Tina, Brick, Toni, Beauty, Shine, Randi(y), Squeak, Bling, SqueakII, Stripe, Redhead and Speckles.

n/p
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Derek Dunlop
DDReptiles
http://www.freewebs.com/ddreptiles/index.htm