Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'll preface this by saying I have yet to successfully incubate any eggs...

I have two Coleonyx brevis eggs which were laid July 7th. Yesterday, one of the two eggs shrunk/shriveled to about half its size. I figured that meant hatching would be "imminent," but the egg had collapsed to the point where the baby gecko inside appeared practically shrink-wrapped.

I slit the egg open this afternoon and removed a fully-formed baby gecko which appeared to be dead--no movement, breathing, nothing. Is this a case of the gecko dying in the egg before pipping, or did I just jump the gun and inadvertently kill it by removing from the egg before it was ready? I assumed if I had killed it, it would've at least moved or otherwise shown signs of life after removing it from the egg.

The other egg is still full-size and firm, so I plan on being more patient with that one in any case.

-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

I noticed today the remaining egg has deflated to the same appearance. They were both laid at the same time, so this one had just under a week of extra developmental time. I'll leave this one alone and see what happens.
-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

that happened to a pair of crested eggs i had...if you havent yet, open up the egg (carefully) becasue the baby may suffocate!! I think it may be a defect where the shells were too tough or they didnt develop egg teeth.
-----
"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.0.1 Yellow phase ATB- Devilin Hisseyes
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, Fae, Azra
1.1.5 crested geckos- Jubeh and Inari, Avalon, Vajra, Pheonix, and 2 hatchlings
1.1.1 gargoyle geckos- Acacia,Osiris, and Enoki
0.0.1 flying gecko- Malarchy
1.0 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
0.1 albino kenyan sand boa- Akasha
1.0 xanthic kenyan sand boa- Ashoka
1.1 whites tree frogs- Sifaka and Eikon
0.1 Transpecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1.2 Senegal chameleons- Ambaji, The Chosen One, and Vertigo
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.2 pacific parrolets- Mishka and Kya
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
1.0 crown tail betta- Lazarus
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

that happened to a pair of crested eggs i had...if you havent yet, open up the egg (carefully) becasue the baby may suffocate!!

Well, that's what I did with the other one, and if this is the case (baby might suffocate), I was already too late with that one. I've posted this on other forums and received varying opinions on what to do. I left this one alone, and will cut it open tomorrow. I'm guessing the baby will be dead like the last one, but some folks advised leaving it alone as they've seen lizards slit the eggs, then wait a few days before emerging.

Thanks for the reply. It's been a rough season for my eggs but a good learning experience. Maybe next year I'll get some babies.
-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

>>Thanks for the reply. It's been a rough season for my eggs but a good learning experience. Maybe next year I'll get some babies.

Cut open the second egg last night, and it was DIE as well. I should've taken measurements of the eggs as they incubated--I don't remember how big they were when they started but right before they collapsed they were HUGE (for brevis eggs, anyway). The remaining three eggs (from two subsequent clutches) are much smaller.
-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

sorry to hear that. It is hard to gauge whether or not to open eggs...i didnt want to open the ones that collapsed either. And i just made the mistake of opening up a gargoyle egg i thought was overdue to hatch (it's my first time breeding gargs, and the incubation time for gargs is different than cresteds...) the eggs looked ready to hatch, but unfortunately i was about 2 weeks too early...

The best thing is to keep an eye on the eggs, and once they start to shrink, help them out. ..good luck with your next clutches!
-----
"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.0.1 Yellow phase ATB- Devilin Hisseyes
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, Fae, Azra
1.1.5 crested geckos- Jubeh and Inari, Avalon, Vajra, Pheonix, and 2 hatchlings
1.1.1 gargoyle geckos- Acacia,Osiris, and Enoki
0.0.1 flying gecko- Malarchy
1.0 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
0.1 albino kenyan sand boa- Akasha
1.0 xanthic kenyan sand boa- Ashoka
1.1 whites tree frogs- Sifaka and Eikon
0.1 Transpecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1.2 Senegal chameleons- Ambaji, The Chosen One, and Vertigo
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.2 pacific parrolets- Mishka and Kya
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
1.0 crown tail betta- Lazarus
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )