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I had pretty much given up on my Rio Fuerte Beaded Lizards for this season. I had even put them up on the kingsnake classifieds for a short while. These guys are my favorite reptile and I just couldn't get rid of them. I even went out and got a sweet tattoo that winds around my bi-cept and up over my shoulder onto my chest (still have about 4hrs left on it). I had noticed my female was becoming extremely lethargic and her tail was getting pretty skinny compared to the male. I began to feed her more but she never gained any weight. I was really starting to worry. Her tail was skinny but she was round like a balloon! I palpated her and just couldn't figure out the problem! I can't believe I didn't catch on! 9 eggs so far and they all candled FERTILE!!! The female is still digging in the same spot that I took them from and appears to still have more inside her. I read they can lay over a 24hr period so it's possible I will get a few more eggs out of her. regardless, I'm so greatful!

These are the first animals I have kept for any length of time in forever! These are also the FIRST Reptiles I have EVER bred! I'm going crazy over here! I'd like to keep and breed my own animals from now on! This feeling....makes you feel like your on top of the world!!! A BIG thanks goes out to Steve Angeli for sending me such awesome animals and helping me along the way! Steve said he was sure they were a pair but wouldn't guarantee it, well he was 100% correct! Now I have a LONG wait ahead of me. The eggs are in the incubator at 80 degree's. From what I've read it looks like I have about a 175-230 day waiting period till I see some little ones! Both of the adults are extremely calm, I hope that carries over in the gene pool!
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John Light

WOW I'm on cloud 9. I don't know if I'll be able to get any sleep. This is going to be the longest wait of my life!
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John Light

I guess 10 is the magic number:

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John Light

Congrats on your clutch! Depending on your incubator set up you might want to move those eggs to a container with no holes. A container full of holes will not hold the humidity needed and the eggs may dry up fast. Speaking from experience. lol Good luck with them.

My set up is a make shift one I just put together last minute. It consist of 2 bins. A larger one with no holes in it and a smaller one with holes. Inside the larger bin I put the heat cord I pulled off of a vision rack I'm not currently using. I then put the smaller bin inside the big bin ontop of the heat cord. Temps are stable at 82, I will bump them up once I get a temp gun. I was told I need the egg temp to be 82. The Helix prob is inside the bin right along side the eggs. I went with vermiculite for substrate. I'll be monitoring the eggs as well as the temps/humidity. These are my first eggs so I'll probably check on them often (atleast once daily lol). I think this setup will work. Worst comes to worst I'll snag a hovabator and use that.
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John Light

Congrats and good luck on your eggs John! Turns out you didn't need to use my male after all!lol. Hope mine will be ready this coming year. Mine are about the same size now as yours was (27".
I will try and get some recent pics up soon before I start cooling them down. My pair (90% sure lol) was the very last pair that Chuck Glut from SGR produced and was actually a hold back pair that he kept for the first 2 years. I acquired them from him at the age of 2 and will be 4 yrs old this feb. I have had good success with eastern indigos and hope it rolls over for me with these guys. Want to add some more beadeds and possible gilas soon.

Thanks! Good luck on this comming season! I'm planning on getting into banded gilas in the not to distant future. Both of my adults are in shed currently, I'll be sure and get some new pics soon. I find it so difficult to capture the yellow coloration in these guys.
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John Light

I have only been producing bearded dragons and ball pythons the last year or two, which has got old and a bit unexciting, but getting the first batch of eggs, incubating them and hatching is always fantastic!

I cant wait to get eggs from my Gila's!! That will be the best!!

Are you housing your Beaded's together, if so any problems? I was housing my Gila's together but they would fight a bit at dinner time so since I had the enclosure space I decided to seperate them.

I dont know much about incubating heloderma eggs, since its a big secret and all, lol ... but im curious about your incubator, what made you decide to go with dry heat around your egg tub oppossed to a heated water around your egg tub set up?

I use a styro cooler filled with about 4" of water which is heated by a aquarium submersable heater, egg tub sits on a rack inside the cooler at water level ... its pretty much a 100% humidity incubator. I dont know the correct method for incubating heloderma eggs but this cooler set up has been working great for me so far with at least a 95% hatch rate.

I know a lot of people who have tried using the Hovators, all with bad results ... they all switched over to cooler set up like I use and have since been getting pretty good results.

I'm so excited it's stressing me out LOL! I've had issues with humidity because I've been doing alot of fiddling with temp/humidity. I found out the hard way that the egg temp is higher then what my helix is set at. 78 on the helix and egg temp is 82 which I'm told is perfect.

I cant wait to get eggs from my Gila's!! That will be the best!!

Are you housing your Beaded's together, if so any problems? I was housing my Gila's together but they would fight a bit at dinner time so since I had the enclosure space I decided to seperate them.

I dont know much about incubating heloderma eggs, since its a big secret and all, lol ... but im curious about your incubator, what made you decide to go with dry heat around your egg tub oppossed to a heated water around your egg tub set up?

I use a styro cooler filled with about 4" of water which is heated by a aquarium submersable heater, egg tub sits on a rack inside the cooler at water level ... its pretty much a 100% humidity incubator. I dont know the correct method for incubating heloderma eggs but this cooler set up has been working great for me so far with at least a 95% hatch rate.

I know a lot of people who have tried using the Hovators, all with bad results ... they all switched over to cooler set up like I use and have since been getting pretty good results.
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John Light

I've been in the hobby for around 10yr's and this is a huge step forward for me. I was told so many times that my first time wouldn't be with beadeds. I candled the eggs approx 2 weeks in and saw tiny black eyes and heart beats, I was floored! I have had humidity issues which I've fought back and forth. I'm trying something now which really seems to be working! The eggs are starting to fill out again which is great! Honestly the incubator was a last minute thing, I didn't think I was getting any eggs this year. I grabbed 2 bins, a larger one and smaller one I could put inside. Then I pulled the heat cord off of my vision rack I'm not currently using. I ran to Lowes and purchased vermiculite and spagnum moss. Drilled some holes in both bins set up my helix and humidity gauge's. I learned the hard way that the helix temp is not going to match the egg temp. My helix is set at 78 and my egg temp is 82 which I'm told is perfect. My temp gauge in the incubator show's about 80. Humidity is at 95% which is also perfect. I will be building an incubator for next year so I don't have all of these problems!

I house my beadeds together year round. I feed them seperately however. I've never had any trouble. My female takes forever to eat so I usually take the male out and handle him for a bit till she's at the tail then he can go back in. I've only had one problem in which I put him in to soon and It could of cost me (a finger). I have them in a Vision #422. They are smaller in size around 29inches on the male and 27 on the female (although they both just shed). They are 4yrs old. If I'm lucky enough to get these guys to hatch I'll be getting into gila's this year!

If you ask the right people it's not that big of a secret. All you really need to know is what times of the year to cool them then put them together and what times to expect eggs if you get any. I now know what a gravid female about to drop looks like. Very puffy and they will refuse to eat. Certain aspects of it is a secret but reptiles is more of a business now then ever. Personally I like to share info so ask away.

Everyone I've spoke to that uses the hovabator has had great results, your friends must of been doing something wrong.

I'm probably going to go the cooler(or fridge/freezer) route when this is all over, don't want to switch them up now.

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John Light