Gecko Eggs and Mold...please help.
Paul Huckabay
The eggs are being incubated in a hovabator, at about 84 degrees. This is how
I have it set up. The bottom of the hovabator, about 1" is filled with 1:1
water to vermiculite. Then, I have a shoe box in there, actually, more like a
1" deep container, that also has a 1:1 ratio of vermiculite to water. Some of
the eggs are caving in, and 2 I am sure are lost due to mold. What am I doing
wrong? Too humid I suppose? Surely they are humid enough? Please help before
it is too late. Thanks so much.
Regards
Paul
Please feel free to reply to this address or nim...@rattler.cameron.edu
Paul Huckabay
Paul Huckabay
MelissK
> I have some leopard geckos, and 3 of my females have laid eggs.
>The eggs are being incubated in a hovabator, at about 84 degrees.
>This is how I have it set up. The bottom of the hovabator, about 1"
>is filled with 1:1 water to vermiculite.
You need to strike the right balance between a properly humid environment
and it being too wet. Combine 6 parts vermiculite with 4 parts water so
that
the vermiculate is just barely moistened. Without changing how the eggs
were laid, place them carefully into the moistened vermiculite, half
burying
them in the medium. Place a small container of water into the vermiculite
too to help keep the humidity up.
A second method is to cut a piece of foam rubber to line a plastic box.
Pour enough water into the box so that the foam is saturated and water
just covers it. Place small dishes, lined with dampened vermiculite or
paper towel, on the wetted foam, and place eggs in the small dishes.
Cover the dishes with a layer of dampened paper towels.
Once your egg incubation boxes are prepared, you must incubate them.
A Hovabator, sold in feed stores for bird eggs, works well. Follow the
package directions for setting the incubator up and adjusting the
temperature. Any place where you can keep the eggs safe from being
jostled or shaken and where you can keep the temperatures constant
throughout the incubation period will work. You will need to be able to
get into the egg boxes to check the water and add water periodically.
If eggs are incubated at 79 F, the majority of all hatchlings will be
female. If incubated at 85F, you will get an almost equal number of
males and females. If incubated at 90F, most will be male; at 92F,
practically all will be males. Females hatched from these eggs are
generally more aggressive than other females, and are generally
considered unsuitable for breeding. If you are trying to guarantee
a certain number of males, set up two incubation chambers, with one
set up at the higher, male-producing temperatures, and the other at
one of the lower female-producing temperatures.
Depending upon the temperatures used, eggs will hatch in 6-12
weeks, with the higher temperatures hatching sooner.
You might try using a Q-tip to apply athelete's foot powder to the
moldy areas, repeating as necessary if the mold crops up again.
It works on iguana eggs so I don't see why not on gecko eggs.
Melissa Kaplan
Mel...@aol.com
Peyton Creadick
>moldy areas, repeating as necessary if the mold crops up again.
>It works on iguana eggs so I don't see why not on gecko eggs.
>
>
>Melissa Kaplan
>Mel...@aol.com
Melissa, are Ig eggs hard or soft shelled? Simply just rubbing on some
soft shelled eggs can severely dent them (I have a female who lays HUGE
fertile but thin shelled eggs....2 are due to hatch soon). From what I
have read, soft shelled eggs infested w/ mold are a lost cause but then
I've never heard of using athletes foot powder...hmm. I'll have to try
that in future....so far keeping he humidity high enough has been my
problem (we put a humidifier in the room so the room would stop sucking
the humidity out of the incubator...worked so far). Athletes foot powder
is safe? I'd really be intersted in the details. Thanks :)
-
PEYTON CREADICK VES...@prodigy.com
Yes, Peyton is a female name :)
Peyton Creadick
>
>Hello Friends. I have some leopard geckos, and 3 of my females have
>The eggs are being incubated in a hovabator, at about 84 degrees. This
is how
>I have it set up. The bottom of the hovabator, about 1" is filled with
1:1
like a
>1" deep container, that also has a 1:1 ratio of vermiculite to water.
Some of
>the eggs are caving in, and 2 I am sure are lost due to mold. What am I
doing
>wrong? Too humid I suppose? Surely they are humid enough? Please help
before
>it is too late. Thanks so much.
>
>Regards
>Paul
I'm not sure about too late...how old are the eggs? You should be using a
4:6 ratio of water to vermiculite by WEIGHT w/ leopard gecko eggs. I find
a 50/50 mixture has yielded me ten good fat-tail gecko eggs (w/ only 3
bad sdince I changed to 50/50) but that is fat-tail not leopard. feel
free to e-mail me I have had to learn by mistake but I have been doing
great since I got all the buggs out.
MelissK
(Peyton Creadick) writes:
>Melissa, are Ig eggs hard or soft shelled? Simply just rubbing on some
>soft shelled eggs can severely dent them (I have a female who lays HUGE
>fertile but thin shelled eggs....2 are due to hatch soon). From what I
>have read, soft shelled eggs infested w/ mold are a lost cause but then
>I've never heard of using athletes foot powder...
Ig eggs are soft and leathery like most reptile eggs. Obviously, you
need to be very gentle, dabbing the powder on. Molded eggs are
generally thought to be past saving, but I've read of clutches of
moldy ig eggs hatching after repeated treatments; the blackening
of the shell when all the way through to the inside of the egg. The
affected eggs hatched last, but all young were healthy and viable,
just smaller than their earlier hatching clutchmates. A first-time
bearded dragon breeder I know left the last 2 bearded eggs in
the incubator after he shut it down - all the non-molded and un-
collapsed eggs had hatched; the two left behind were all moldy
and collapsed. Imagine his surprise when, two days later, he
opened the incubator to clean it out and found two viable
bearded babies...
Micotin and Lotrimin have been safely used topically on the eggs
and directly on fungal skin infections...
Melissa Kaplan
Mel...@aol.com
Peyton Creadick
>Ig eggs are soft and leathery like most reptile eggs.
Hmm.....do you mean Igg eggs are soft and leathery when exposed to too
much humidity or in general? My fat-tail eggs would not be described as
soft or leathery unless the eggs go bad and start to decay, the the ones
I have lost have been soft and leathery and yellow.
MelissK
(Peyton Creadick) writes:
>Hmm.....do you mean Igg eggs are soft and leathery when exposed to too
>much humidity or in general? My fat-tail eggs would not be described as
>soft or leathery unless the eggs go bad and start to decay, the the ones
>I have lost have been soft and leathery and yellow.
Well, soft in relation to bird eggs, but turgid. Leathery rather than
brittle shell. Healthy egg rebounds when lightly pressed.
Melissa Kaplan
Mel...@aol.com
Rich Zuchowski
colubrid and leopard gecko eggs with good results. Don't get them too
wet. Cover the eggs completely with the vermiculite (coarse granules
seems to work best) and cover with a dampened paper towel. Put this
all in a shoe box with a little bit of ventilation for air flow. Check
every two weeks and add water as needed to keep the eggs from
collapsing from dehydration.
Rich Zuchowski
SerpenCo
http://www.herp.com/serpenco/serpenco.html
In <4jqi02$m...@usenetp1.news.prodigy.com> VES...@prodigy.com (Peyton
todd rutherford
>In article <4jnr2m$r...@panther.sirinet.net>, Paul Huckabay <paul> writes:
>> I have some leopard geckos, and 3 of my females have laid eggs.
>>The eggs are being incubated in a hovabator, at about 84 degrees.
>>This is how I have it set up. The bottom of the hovabator, about 1"
>>is filled with 1:1 water to vermiculite.
......
>If eggs are incubated at 79 F, the majority of all hatchlings will be
>female. If incubated at 85F, you will get an almost equal number of
>males and females. If incubated at 90F, most will be male; at 92F,
>practically all will be males. Females hatched from these eggs are
>generally more aggressive than other females, and are generally
>considered unsuitable for breeding. If you are trying to guarantee
>a certain number of males, set up two incubation chambers, with one
>set up at the higher, male-producing temperatures, and the other at
>one of the lower female-producing temperatures.
"Females hatched from these eggs are generally more aggressive than
other females, and are generally considered unsuitable for breeding."
From which eggs? Does this refer to females incubated at higher
temperatures?
Todd Rutherford
ru...@knox.mindspring.com
Peyton Creadick
>temperatures?
>
>Todd Rutherford
>ru...@knox.mindspring.com
Females incubated at higher temperatures are unsuitable for breeding and
often agressive hence the term "hot" females.
Colin Wilson
>mel...@aol.com (MelissK) wrote:
>>If eggs are incubated at 79 F, the majority of all hatchlings will be
>>female. If incubated at 85F, you will get an almost equal number of
>>males and females. If incubated at 90F, most will be male; at 92F,
>>practically all will be males. Females hatched from these eggs are
>>generally more aggressive than other females, and are generally
>>considered unsuitable for breeding. If you are trying to guarantee
>>a certain number of males, set up two incubation chambers, with one
>>set up at the higher, male-producing temperatures, and the other at
>>one of the lower female-producing temperatures.
>"Females hatched from these eggs are generally more aggressive than
>other females, and are generally considered unsuitable for breeding."
>From which eggs? Does this refer to females incubated at higher
>temperatures?
Yes, the fraction of males is nearly 100% at the higher temperatures
(90-92F), but any resulting females will generally have masculine
behavioral traits (fighting/aggression). I'm curious if anyone knows what
the critical time for the temperature is - I expect that during
embryongenesis there is a relatively short time span at which the
temperature selects gonad development. To my knowledge this hasn't been
determined, although the experiment would be relatively easy. I wonder if
the temperature effects on the brain (clearly there are some due to
non-gender determined behavioral responses) are determined at a different
time from gonadal development. The benefit from knowing this would be
that males could be selected by holding incubation at a high temperature
only during the critical development period, and adverse behavioral
effects could perhaps be reduced by reducing the incubation temperature
for the rest of the incubation.
Colin
Peyton Creadick
>
>We've been using a 7:1 ratio of vermiculite:water by VOLUME with both
>colubrid and leopard gecko eggs with good results. Don't get them too
>wet. Cover the eggs completely with the vermiculite (coarse granules
>seems to work best) and cover with a dampened paper towel. Put this
>all in a shoe box with a little bit of ventilation for air flow. Check
>every two weeks and add water as needed to keep the eggs from
>collapsing from dehydration.
Your climate must be more humid than mine as my eggs started collapsing
w/ more water than that mixed in (7v:4w). As far as the covering of the
eggs, I have always been warned never to cover the eggs completely. All
the boooks I have read say half covered and that is what I tend to do
though some just sit on tope of the vermiculite. A beginner should check
more than every two weeks. You can lose eggs in that period of time. I
check daily and would have lost my first three clutches had I not. Also,
w/ checking every 2 weeks, do you mean eggs or the incubator on the whole?
I had a friend lose all of their eggs when the incubator quit on him.
Ted Hess-Homeier
> i was talking to someone and they said they had gotten upset when an
egg that was very importantn to them had gotten some fungus on it. out
of desperration they had put some fungus inhibitor on the fungus spot.
unfortunately i cant remember where i heard this, maybe i read it
somewherre. if i remember right they used some generic non herp related
fungucide like an athletes foot cream or something. i also think i
remember reading or hearing that it worked. does any9one know anything
about doing this.
> >
MelissK
Hess-Homeier <hom...@ism.net> writes:
>if i remember right they used some generic non herp related
>fungucide like an athletes foot cream or something.
Powdered fungicides such as Micotin, dabbed on with a cotton-
tipped swab, and repeated as necessary during the course
of incubation, has been effective....
Melissk
Melissa Kaplan
Mel...@aol.com