Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone had good sucess in the desert SW with natural ground incubation for C.conspicuosa? My S. hispidus seem to do OK with just leaving the eggs in the laying chamber and hatching early fall. I have 2 clutches underground of the conspic. spiney tail and wondered if any documented hatchings have been sucessful given the island they come from is desolate except for cactus, certainly a hatch can happen here in AZ. any info?

You could leave half outside and incubate the other half, that way you wont loose all if the eggs left outdoors die. You could also stick a Temperature probe to see how warm the soil underground is where the eggs are. If it is less that 85, it may be too cold. But, since I have never icubated anything less than 86, I really don't know what a minimum temp would be. Good luck.

Good question. I know at the ASDM the Ctenosaura hemalopha they have running around the grounds hatch naturally but that could be because they are constantly watering certain areas for the plants. The lizards are able to chose where they want to lay. I also know that they have had problems long ago with hatching varius and hispidus naturally due to the soil being too dry and the young nat able to dig out and also with the nest drying up I believe. I think that they have corrected the problem by using a misting system on the outdoor enclosures which I think they rum daily from April to October. Also Bob Blome has had some problem with young hispidus not being able to dig out due to the ground being to dry and hard. Good luck and let us know what you do. Also let us know what is available we wont tell the administration LOL. Tom

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