# Lizards > Rhacodactylus Geckos >  Female laid egg on paper towel, not in lay box! What do I do?

## Marissa@MKmorphs

My female laid her first egg, for me, on her paper towel substrate and not in her lay box. I checked her enclosure last night before I went to sleep and found it this morning so it couldn't have been more than 11 ish hours. 

My concern is that the egg looks very dry. I still set it up with super hatch and I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.  I put Eco earth as her substrate so that if she doesn't lay in her lay box it will be better than on paper towel. 

Here is a picture of the egg. I haven't candled it yet. 




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## mlededee

It doesn't necessarily look dry, but it does look very under calcified. It should have a smooth white finish, but it has a snowflake pattern on it--that means that the female did not have enough calcium reserves to properly calcify the shell. That doesn't necessarily mean that the egg is infertile though. Was it just the one egg?

At this point I would be more concerned with getting enough calcium in your female's diet, and supplementing her with extra to help her along until she finishes laying eggs (which you will want her to do soon since she is laying eggs like that).

Using eco earth as substrate is going to make it very hard to find eggs in the future. Unless you happen to see her laying, you are going to have to routinely dig up her entire cage to look for eggs. I'd stick with the paper towels and lay box and hope she uses it next time. If you find eggs that have been laid outside of the lay box within 24 hours or so they should still be fine.

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dr del (08-23-2012),_MrLang_ (08-23-2012)

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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Okay thank you so much. She has only been in my possession for just over 3 weeks. I have no idea what her conditions were like before but she has been consistently eating the Repashy 3.0 since she has been with me but shows no interest in crickets. What else can I do to help her calcium situation? 

She had been digging in her


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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Lay box constantly for about the last week or so. Should I mix calcium powder in
Her cgd? 


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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Yes it was just one egg. 

I'm going to check or another egg when I get home from work. 


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## mainbutter

1) Do you house her by herself?  I often don't, but when I do it helps me monitor their eating.

2) There's nothing wrong with mixing in a little calcium with the CGD, and I sometimes even give my females a little milk gallon jug top filled with dry calcium powder they sometimes eat out of.. no idea why they think it's food but I'm glad they do.

3) If she has no interest in crickets, don't bother buying crix twice a week or even weekly.  Offering food that is refused for any reptile is stressful.  I probably offer crix to my "non-cricket eating" geckos every few months to see if they gain interest.  As they age they seem to more readily take crix, though I've had some 10g geckos that were avid insect hunters.  I normally offer crickets dusted w/calcium on tongs, but when I was feeding dubias, I had lots of fun with a few of my gex that LOVED to hunt insects chase down dubia nymphs that I'd place in a large plastic bin.  Insert insect, insert gecko, watch the fun.  I tend to not feed free-roaming insects in my vivariums, because there are too many nooks and crannies for the insects to hide for the geckos to hunt effectively.

4) I've hatched eggs right on top of perlite in a tupperware w/no holes.  I've hatched eggs in my vivarium soil.  However, my most reliable method that seems pretty fool-proof is using these: http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/g...organizer.html
The only reason I haven't tried super hatch is because I haven't felt a need to, but it sounds like a wonderful hatching media.

5) There's nothing special you need to do for your gecko if her only issues are perhaps being a bit under-calcified.  Give her good housing, clutter to feel secure, humidity for comfort, misting for hydration, plenty of CGD so she can choose to eat whenever she wants, a nest box to feel comfortable laying eggs, and dark nights.  Crested geckos are not complicated, their needs are pretty easily filled with minimal, but consistent and regular effort.

Last question:  Is your lay box open top or a hole-entryway style?  Whatever it is, if she shuns it in subsequent lays, feel free to change things up until you find what she likes and is comfortable with.

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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Yes she is housed by herself. Her lay box has a hole cut in the top and she is in it all the time so I don't think that is an issue. I'll try mixing in some calcium with her cgd and/or leave a little dish of it with her. 


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## Marissa@MKmorphs

I bought one of those egg organizers but I wasn't sure how to use it. I had already watched some videos on how to use the super hatch so I just went ahead and used that. 


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## Marissa@MKmorphs

This is what the egg looks like today. 

It definitely has filled out some since yesterday. 


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## mlededee

The egg will absorb moisture from the substrate it is being incubated in, so that's good that it is filling out.

Try to check the female's calcium sacks if you can. But definitely give her some extra calcium for right now. You can leave it dry in a dish and/or mix it into her CGD as mentioned. Just don't overdo it--just a tiny bit added into the CGD should be enough. I actually like to use this: http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/r...escue-cal.html. With that product you cannot overdose her on calcium or vitamin D3 that might be added to calcium powder. You mix it up as a liquid and can give drops right out of a dropper for the gecko to lick off of its nose. You can also add it to their CGD. It is basically the same thing that you would get at a vet's office for a calcium deficient gecko.

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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Just found egg number 2 and it looks much better than the first. When I was uncovering it I think I might have rolled it  :Sad:  will the egg still be okay?


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## mlededee

I'm glad the second egg looks better. That indicates that your female's calcium reserves aren't as badly depleted as I thought--she had enough to properly calcify one egg, but not two. I would still do some extra supplementing for her though, until both eggs have smooth white shells or until she stops laying. 

The egg itself will be fine. The embryo does not attach right away, so it's not likely you harmed it in any way by rolling it some this soon after it was laid.

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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Great! Thanks for all the info  :Smile:  this is my first clutch so I really don't want to mess it up! 

One more question. How long should I wait after she laid eggs to pair her with my male? How would you suggest I do this? They are housed separately at the
Moment. Should I move the male in with her, move her in with him or move them
Both to a temporary enclosure until I see copulation?  


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## mlededee

You need to let her have a break from laying eggs for a while before you pair her with your male (especially since both eggs are not well calcified--her body needs time to recover and rebuild its calcium stores). She will retain sperm from the male she was previously with and continue laying for 3-6 months after she was separated from him. Keep her by herself until she stops laying eggs completely. After that I would give her a minimum of 6-9 months of rest. You want her to be well rested and ready to go again before you introduce your male and make her body start producing eggs again. 

When it it time, you can introduce the male into her enclosure. Keep an eye on them for the first day or two to make sure there isn't any extreme fighting or aggressiveness or anything like that. Most times there isn't, but you just want to observe them at first to make sure.

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## Marissa@MKmorphs

Okay thank you very much  :Smile: 


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## Marissa@MKmorphs

So that first egg ending up growing mold and "fur"! Yikes. The second egg is fine though. 

Should I just go ahead and throw out the molded over egg?


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## mlededee

How moldy is it? Does it smell bad? Incubate until there is absolutely no doubt that the egg is bad. Sometimes an ugly egg will still hatch, but it's more than likely that mold this early on indicates that the egg is bad or infertile.

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## BlueMoonExotics

If it was her very first clutch or first few clutches they can look bad even if her calcium sacks are good. First time females often have issues with their first clutch or a couple after that. If that's the case I wouldn't worry too much about it but it would be a good idea to check her calcium sacks to keep an eye on it. A good rule of thumb is to incubate the eggs until there is no doubt that they are bad. Usually though, if they are growing mold that badly they aren't good. Also a female can sometimes lay dud eggs and not bury them. After a few days I candle the eggs to check and see if they're fertile. Fertile eggs will start to get a light orangish "donut" shape in them.

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