Female laid egg on paper towel, not in lay box! What do I do?

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 :( will the egg still be okay?


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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.

Great! Thanks for all the info :) 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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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.

Okay thank you very much :)


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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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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.

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.