Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all. Im new to breeding Crested geckos. I have 2.5.3. I had 5 eggs laid on 3-29-10. They should have hatched by now. I had them at 75 and the same water/vermiculite mix as my leopard geckos. One was turning yellow and moldy with a dent forming. I slit it thinking it needed help coming out. 2 days later nothing so i cut it all the way. dead in egg. What would cause this? Was I wrong for slitting the egg?
thanks
Cody

Hard to say for sure...but I wouldn't recommend slitting crested gecko eggs.

the incubation medium should be 2 parts vermiculite to one part water, by weight. Not sure what the ratio is for leopard geckos...but if they have a higher water content, that could be the cause of excessive mold.

Typical incubation times for 75F temperature, is around 65 days. I am not sure as I have always incubated crested gecko eggs at room temperature, which ranged from about 73-76F and if I remember correctly, hatching usually took about 60-65 days...but it can take as much as 75 days, if your temps are lower than you thought in the incubator.

Dead in egg can be caused by many things, too damp substrate, defects within the animal, insufficient nutrients from the mother, heat spike, possibly the slit in the egg may have caused problems...it all really depends if you saw any movement when you made the slit...it may have already been dead.
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PHLdyPayne

Thank you. There was no movement in the egg at all. There were 5 laid then and 2 of the others are sweating like its too moist. They are on dry vermiculite now. I still have about a dozen more to go. ill see what happens
Cody

You may also be looking at some poorly calcified eggs which may have something to do w/sweating and yellowing.This may cause poor condition inside the egg for the babies to fully develop.I'd also give them more time because letting them incubate for 90 days is still good...

sweating and yellowing means a dud in my experience. candle the eggs when you notice this happening. if it is a dud the whole egg will glow. if you see veins or a large dark mass the egg is viable