Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sky the mama being gravid with this clutch. She laid this clutch July 3, 08. 8 eggs, six hatched August 23 and 24, 08.

Indigo the papa.

Hatchling getting pinhead crickets.

Hardening off sphagnum moss container inside of permanent home container. They spend a week in this moist sphagnum moss so they don't desiccate, and can find the pinheads easily. As soon as they hatch in the incubation tub I gently move them into this sphagnum moss tub, as they want light and warmth, and are ready to commence eating within hours of birth. The red jar lid contains food and a carrot for the pinheads, and egg crate shelter, so they are easy to find and will survive until eaten.
The eggs were incubated in vermiculite at 80.5 degrees Fahrenheit for 51 to 52 days. I threw away the two duds about two weeks into the incubation. The good eggs plumped up with a pink tint but the duds stayed small and yellow.
The mama was provided a quart sized glad tub filled with moist sand and covered with a piece of cardboard for privacy, in her enclosure. When she laid her clutch I transferred them to the sterile moist vermiculite, being careful to do everything as sanitary as possible so as to successfully avoid mold contamination. I took great care to not shift the orientation of the eggs. I put the probe to the thermostat and the probe to the indoor outdoor thermometer in the incubation tub, with a couple of small holes for aeration, and put this affair into a big Styrofoam fish shipping box with a seed germination mat, a small rack to lift the tub off the mat, and an insulated shipping envelope for the tub to sit on, like a baffle.
August 9th Sky laid a second clutch of 10 eggs all of which look viable. I am doing the same thing with this clutch.

Update August 25, 08:

The grow box, or nursery, with wire 1/8 inch screen for solar exposure.

With the lid off, so you can see their manzanita junglegym, housing (sphagnum moss pan under cardboard) and pinhead setup easy to access.
I was going to keep them in the smaller tub they were in yesterday, but they are really ready to rock and roll, hence a big tub with solar exposure and lots of room to run around in, and things to climb on.
This nursery goes on my front porch in partial shade. They get enough sun to get UVB but not enough to cook them. Thermometer in tub. This is similar to the set up the adults have. In the winter I will give them UVB with lamps, and rig up some flex-watt for heating.