Leopard gecko breeding questions

Good news! Lenetta just laid two beautiful white eggs! She kicked all of the vermiculite out of her lay box and ended up laying them in her warm hide. Now they are in the incubator, which, according to my accurite thermometer which records the highest and lowest temps over 24 hours, has stayed between 89.9 when I opened it briefly to put the eggs in and 90 when it was stabilizing afterwards. I set it for 89. I'll candle them after they harden a bit.

The eggs will develop at the same time. So if you only see one egg you are either looking at a fat body (which I often get mistaken with eggs) or there is just one egg. She will lay the egg when its finished developing, which is hard to predict since there is a big range in development when they can be paired.

That's great! I'm glad to hear that you got two good eggs. Keep us updated when they hatch!

Ok, so I just candled the eggs and one has the ring of life in it!!!!!

Should the ring of life be anywhere in particular in the egg? This one is on the left side of the egg and I'm not sure if Lenetta turned the egg after she laid it, but there is a certain time period after she lays where the egg can be turned with no detrimental effects, and the egg was still sticky when I found it so the time period probably isnt up?

Also the egg without the ring of life had a small white patch on the right side of it. Does that mean anything?

I'm soooooo excited!!! If the egg is fertile than I can probably hatch it... incubation doesn't seem that hard.

The eggs are fertile, that's great! The embryo should be on the top but I would just keep them in the same orientation that you found them in, as long as the embryo doesn't drown you can rotate them a little bit.

So how far down should the embryo be before I turn it? And can the embryo move itself to the right orientation if it's slightly off?

You shouldn't turn it but you could as long as the embryo doesn't drown. Personally I wouldn't mess with it but you could also rotate it so the embryo is on the top. It can move to the right orientation after a small time after being laid but after a while (a few hours or so if I remember correctly) it is fused to the side of the egg and can't move.

How long is it before the eggshells lose their stickiness? They were very soft and sticky when I found them, and I would not be surprised if Lenetta had just laid them, and after being in the incubator for about half an hour to an hour they were not sticky and much harder. When I picked them up to put them in the incubation box, they were drooping under their own weight, but when I candled them like 45 minutes later they were firm. I just want to figure out how old they are about. Thanks!

If they were sticky and soft they were likely just laid. So you likely found them less than 15 minutes after she laid them.

Oh, then the embryo can still move and will be fine.

YESSSSSS!!!!!!

:gj::gj::gj::gj::gj::gj: