Leopard gecko breeding questions

Soooo, Lea is large enough for breeding, and she was ovulating, so I put her in with my friend's leopard gecko, Scales, who is a male. They mated and Lea tried to stay away from the male, so I took her out and put her back in her own tank. a month and a half later, the ovulations are being reabsorbed back into her body https://ball-pythons.net/forums/imag...ABAAEAAAIBRAA7

BUT.... Lenetta was ovulating, and on the 1st of March I put her in with the male. They mated, Lenetta rejected the male and got him off of her, and walked away. at that point I took her out and put her in her own tank. Now, (I think it's the 11th??? I forget https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach.../sFun_doh2.gif) I can see through her belly that the ovulations are now about 2.5 times longer and white. I'm thinking eggs!!!

I have a hova-bator incubator (I removed the egg turning mechanism) that I have calibrated to 89* F (I'm trying for males since I will be keeping one and the person getting the other one doesn't care which sex she gets, and there is still a small (about 2%) chance that one of the eggs will be a female and I don't want to accidentally get both females). I bought 12oz plastic deli cups from Walmart and horticultural vermiculite from Value (It doesn't have any fertilizers or other additives). I have enough vermiculite to experiment with to make sure I can get the right medium:water ratio. I mixed equal parts of vermiculite and water by weight, and got a mixture that (after being thoroughly shaken) feels damp, and sticks somewhat to my hand, and when I squeeze it no water comes out. When I cup some in my hand, tilt my hand, and shake it so it slowly falls off, it does not clump together, but when I squeeze it it clumps well.

I still have a few questions, though.

1). I will be checking the eggs every day or every other day. I was planning on putting 1 pinhole in each incubation box (I want to incubate the eggs seperately so that if one gets fungus or mold it won't damage the other one). Is that enough?

2). If one of the eggs develops mild mold or fungus, should I moisten a qtip and wipe off the mold every day?

3). what are the odds the eggs are infertile? Lenetta has never mated before, and has never layed eggs.

4). The horticultural vermiculite I'm using has no additives or anything, but is it possible that it it contaminated with something that will harm the eggs?

Also, any tips are helpful. Although incubation temps are different from species to species, a lot of tips from other lizard species would probably be helpful.

Thanks!

I've produced a few hundred leos, so here's my input.

1) I don't ever ventilate my leo eggs in the incubator. They get a little air when I open the cup to put more eggs in, and I don't put more than 8 eggs in a cup.

2) If the egg is molding, it is likely dead. You can screw around with it, but it likely won't do any good. Good eggs that get some surface mold are said to hatch out fine (I've never had good eggs mold).

3)Pretty high. My first clutch or two of the year are often infertile, or bad in some other way.

4) Possible? Yes, theoretically anything could possibly be contaminated. Extraordinarily unlikely, though, and I've not heard of such a thing (some people still like to mention asbestos contamination, which was due to one mine in Montana that closed in 1990. Vermiculite is now tested for asbestos).

More input:

I use regular vermiculite with good results -- I prefer Burpee brand, but this may be a superstition of mine. It took me a couple years to get good at incubating leo eggs, and I'm sticking with my little rituals. I do prefer a fine vermiculite, which is contrary to most breeders' preference.

I use 80% hydration -- so 100 parts vermiculite to 80 parts water by weight. If you weigh things out it is easier to know how to adjust if, say, you get dehydrating eggs.

I keep my leos together year round. If you get poor results, it may be that the one night stand thing isn't the right idea. Sometimes leo pairs don't like each other right away, and each spring I get some evidence of very physical interactions of them getting the breeding season started -- never any permanent damage.

I used Hovabators for a handful of years, run first by the native thermostat (the one where you bang your head against the wall until the temp holds) and then a Herpstat. The hatch rate was not great -- temp variances in different locations in the incubator are too great for me to get good results, and opening the top lets all the heat out, even though I ran thermal masses in the incubator (jam jars filled with water) Once I switched to a C-Serpents incubator (OMG is it nice; I want to get another one for the living room just to look lovingly at), the hatch rates on all my animals went way up. So, if you don't get good results, consider that the incubator may be contributing.

I don't pay any attention to ovulations or the like. I check the geckos every day or two, and pull eggs as they appear. Some people like to helicopter this sort of thing, but not everyone does. :)

Malum I think nailed it on all the big points.

For your friend, they are aware that two males will typically fight? Just making sure before you send one thier way.

I would try to avoid checking the eggs every day, unless your hoovabator has the little window you can peek through.
Any time you open the incubator you'll be letting that heat out. Any time you disturb the eggs themselves, you can risk contamination or accidentally rolling the egg.

What I've done with the eggs I'm incubating currently is leaving the later of vermiculite thin enough on the bottom to shine a light through for candling. That way I don't have to actually open the tub and mess with the eggs. I check on them once a week for molding until they're due to hatch. Then I'll begin checking more regularly.

I threw my hoovabator in the closet and forgot about it. It gave me the same issues Malum had with temp ranged and inaccuracies. I've used the converted aquarium incubator for geckos before with success and my current is actually just an ice chest with some heat tape and a thermostat. Nothing fancy.

Would it help the temp variances if the incubator’s fan was running? The containers will be covered so it won’t blow directly on the eggs.

I ran one with a fan one season and did not, contrary to my expectations, see any improvement. YMMV on all this. You may pop out leopard geckos like guppies or something.

I have come to believe that one of the main issues with these incubators is that the heat source is radiant -- so, in addition to the cold corners and heat escaping with every top removal, the heat source heats the top of the eggs in a way it doesn't heat the bottom. With chicken eggs on a turner (or manually turned, though they don't work well for this either, I can attest) this may be less of a problem. Other incubators (the one I use; heat tape DIY jobs) don't heat this way.

I've only hatched a few leopard geckos last season, but here are my thoughts.

1) I put around 5 pinholes in my containers. But that was only because I kept water in the bottom of the incubator, limited ventilation in the incubator, and made multiple test runs for the length of the incubation. I would recommend making a few cups just experimenting without eggs and see what works best.

2) If they get mold or fungus you can use athlete's foot powder. I don't think that they are always dead because I've seen terrible eggs end up hatching. And also, it doesn't hurt to try to treat the mold in hopes that it might hatch. "Incubate until there's no debate"

3) Most of the time first-time females' first clutch is infertile. You will likely get multiple clutches so you should have multiple chances. But, having only paired them one time lowers the chances of successful fertilization. Last year, I planned on pairing every 2 weeks until the first clutch.

4) It could happen but it's not likely. If you're worried about it you can rinse it off and soak it in water (if you have a way of easily removing the water once it's done).

Hovabators are infamous for being the wrong temperature. If you decide to use it you should at least cross-check the temperatures with one or two thermometers. You can also build an incubator very cheaply that will likely be more reliable. Last season I used a Farm Incubators Still Air Incubator model 2100 (which was given to me) and it worked great. I also liked that it had a window, because otherwise I would be opening the incubator a few times a day to check on the eggs. Which might have resulted in temperature inconsistencies.

I think a 1:1 vermiculite:water ratio is perfect. That's what I used, I did need to add a little bit of water later in the season, but I used a lot of ventilation.

Using a fan helps remove temperature inconsistencies inside of the incubator but it doesn't help temperature fluctuations. The best thing to do would be get another incubator, but if that's not possible you can make this one work.

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

... I switched to a C-Serpents incubator (OMG is it nice; I want to get another one for the living room just to look lovingly at)....

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:rofl: Interesting choice for decor- but quite understandable. :D I love it when products of any kind far exceed expectations for design, operation, longevity & overall quality.

(Maybe you should do an ad for them? I don't even need one these days & you've almost made ME want one! LOL)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

:rofl: Interesting choice for decor- but quite understandable. :D I love it when products of any kind far exceed expectations for design, operation, longevity & overall quality.

(Maybe you should do an ad for them? I don't even need one these days & you've almost made ME want one! LOL)

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Yeah, it is just a black PVC cabinet, but it works so well it is beautiful. :)

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Originally Posted by Armiyana

Malum I think nailed it on all the big points.

For your friend, they are aware that two males will typically fight? Just making sure before you send one thier way.

I would try to avoid checking the eggs every day, unless your hoovabator has the little window you can peek through.
Any time you open the incubator you'll be letting that heat out. Any time you disturb the eggs themselves, you can risk contamination or accidentally rolling the egg.

What I've done with the eggs I'm incubating currently is leaving the later of vermiculite thin enough on the bottom to shine a light through for candling. That way I don't have to actually open the tub and mess with the eggs. I check on them once a week for molding until they're due to hatch. Then I'll begin checking more regularly.

I threw my hoovabator in the closet and forgot about it. It gave me the same issues Malum had with temp ranged and inaccuracies. I've used the converted aquarium incubator for geckos before with success and my current is actually just an ice chest with some heat tape and a thermostat. Nothing fancy.

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Yeah, my friend knows about them fighting.

ill try to see if I can get a real incubator for reptiles. The hovabator was free (my grandma was moving out of state and she didn’t need it for her chickens) so I figured I’d use that, but if I can afford something for reptiles I will def get it. Lenetta could lay her eggs pretty soon here, and I don’t want to mess around with making my own incubator. Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap incubator? I will spend as much as I have to (within reason) for a good one, but I would rather spend less.

thanks!

So i just found this reptipro 6000 online... it's used and has minor cosmetic wear and the seal around the door is pertially torn. Should it still work?https://www.ebay.com/itm/22488133367...sAAOSwHoFiK6li It's barely torn and the cosmetic damage is worth saving $150, I think.

Looking at the Amazon reviews for the 6000 it seems really hit or miss. I wouldn't personally trust anything rated that poorly.

If you are hooking it up to a backup thermostat you might be okay? But I say this as someone incubating ball python and Leo eggs in a 48qt cooler with heat tape wrapped around the inside and a thermostat. Lol.

If you want an inexpensive incubator you can make one yourself. To make one you can use a styrofoam cooler, heat tape, and a thermostat (you can get a decent Inkbird one for about $30) or a rheostat. I've been planning to build one but haven't needed to yet.
Also, the one I mentioned earlier was about $50 and I've had good experiences with it. I haven't used it enough to claim it's a good incubator, but the person I got it from said they had hatched hundreds of leos in it and it worked great.

I actually was on another forum and apparently someone on there had trouble with the 6000... he woke up at 3 am to a beeping sound and his incubator reset from 89* F to 40* F. He caught it in time and was able to save the eggs (all but one), but I don't want anything like that to happen.

I'm trying to make myself an incubator. technically Lenetta could lay anytime between today and next wednesday, but the eggs (actually theres only 1) seem a little too small to be ready quite yet, in my humble opinion. If she lays before I have the incubator ready, I'll just use the Hova-Bator until it's ready.

Has anyone had any experience with the Inkbird temp control thermostat ITC1000? Here's a link to it on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is the incubator I'm trying to make. I'm also adding in a small CPU fan, and getting rid of the light kit.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...oler-incubator

Hopefully it will work... I don't want her first clutch to be infertile but if it is it will at least buy me some time.

Broken record warning: I would (and did, and do) use a Herpstat. Here's why, for incubators. (A) they are dimming thermostats, which means they're not just on or off, they ramp up power until temp is reached, and then apply a percentage of the power to hold the temp there. The variance in my incubator run by a Herpstat is 0.3F -- set at 80.5F, it holds from 80.4 to 80.6. Is that necessary? I don't know, but I do know that the huge swings a Hovabator is prone to aren't great (daily cycles in temp have been asserted to be beneficial to incubating eggs -- that's a more European-based technique that may or may not be practiced anymore, I don't know -- but a night drop is different than random and frequent variance).

This is related to reason (B): Herpstats (well, the H4, anyway) have a maximum power feature, where you can set the stat to only apply up to a max percentage of power to the heating element. This is very important in the overpowered Hovabators, since a simple on/off stat will run full power up to the set temp, and then as the heating element cools after power is cut it will continue the upward arc of temperature, maxing out a couple degrees above the setpoint. Limiting power to, say, 40% or 50% reduces that temp overshoot (better designs, like those that use heat tape, don't have a big problem with this since heat tape doesn't retain heat the way those rigid resistive elements do).

The H4 has four channels, so the others can be used for other heating/cooling/lighting/humidity devices.

There's also the alarm that'll let you know when the temp isn't rising when the heat is on, as when the incubator has been left open -- another useful feature.

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

Broken record warning: I would (and did, and do) use a Herpstat. Here's why, for incubators. (A) they are dimming thermostats, which means they're not just on or off, they ramp up power until temp is reached, and then apply a percentage of the power to hold the temp there. The variance in my incubator run by a Herpstat is 0.3F -- set at 80.5F, it holds from 80.4 to 80.6. Is that necessary? I don't know, but I do know that the huge swings a Hovabator is prone to aren't great (daily cycles in temp have been asserted to be beneficial to incubating eggs -- that's a more European-based technique that may or may not be practiced anymore, I don't know -- but a night drop is different than random and frequent variance).

This is related to reason (B): Herpstats (well, the H4, anyway) have a maximum power feature, where you can set the stat to only apply up to a max percentage of power to the heating element. This is very important in the overpowered Hovabators, since a simple on/off stat will run full power up to the set temp, and then as the heating element cools after power is cut it will continue the upward arc of temperature, maxing out a couple degrees above the setpoint. Limiting power to, say, 40% or 50% reduces that temp overshoot (better designs, like those that use heat tape, don't have a big problem with this since heat tape doesn't retain heat the way those rigid resistive elements do).

The H4 has four channels, so the others can be used for other heating/cooling/lighting/humidity devices.

There's also the alarm that'll let you know when the temp isn't rising when the heat is on, as when the incubator has been left open -- another useful feature.

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That's ^ ^ ^ a great explanation & awfully convincing! :gj:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

That's ^ ^ ^ a great explanation & awfully convincing! :gj:

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Now if the kickbacks would start rolling in, that'd be great. ;)

Yeah... I would go with a Herpstat too, but I literally spent everything I had to spend on this for the supplies for the incubator, and the Herpstat is like $200 on the cheapest place I found it (eBay). And I could only afford the $18 Inkbird.

And in case your wondering why I put the geckos together if I couldn't afford the the top stuff for the incubator, I thought the Hova-Bator would be fine until I found out otherwise...

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Originally Posted by Lizrd_boy

And in case your wondering why I put the geckos together if I couldn't afford the the top stuff for the incubator, I thought the Hova-Bator would be fine until I found out otherwise...

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Keep in mind that my first comment on this, and one I still stand behind, was "So, if you don't get good results, consider that the incubator may be contributing." Lots of leos have been hatched from Hovabators. A kind of cynical way to look at it is that there about a dozen things that can go wrong, and only one of those is the performance of the incubator. ;)

The way I amassed a ridiculous room full of equipment and herps started with incubating leo eggs in a Hovabator (well, I had three going usually). Then sold the offspring, bought more leos, sold more offspring, bought more enclosures, sold more offspring, bought snakes, bought a big fancy incubator.... and so on. It all financed itself (well....mostly...). :)

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

Now if the kickbacks would start rolling in, that'd be great. ;)

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Sometimes a good deed just has to be its own reward- too bad. :)

Okay, so I got everything I needed for the incubator, and set it up. The accu-rite thermometer I got shows highest temps and lowest temps over the past 24 hours so calibration will be pretty simple.

I just had a couple questions... First, when the female has eggsdeveloping inside her, do they both grow at the same time or is it more one and then the other? Lenetta definately has at least one egg which is getting pretty big, but there is a smaller round mass the size of an ovulation but whiter. Is that another egg or is it uncommon for the eggs to develop at different times?

Also, can someone please post pictures of gravid geckos at different stages of egg-development? I'd like to see what it normally looks like.

Last, how long after copulation will leopards lay? I though it was 16-22 days, but a friend of mine (he breeds ball pyhons and rodents, but his leopards "accidentally" laid eggs. He never got them to hatch, but still... he got further than I have!) said it can take up to a month??? He didn't know when his geckos mated so he doesn't know how long it was for him. Also a website I saw said it can take 2-5 weeks?

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:

Both eggs now have a visible embryo when I candle them.
the one that had the embryo visible first has righted itself, and is now on the very top of the egg. The other one is like... 45 degrees to the left of the top. At what point would the embryo drown? Only at the very bottom or can it drown on the side too?

For now I just left it the orientation I originally found it in.

If it's at 45 degrees to the top I highly doubt it would drown. I think they will both hatch, that's super exciting!

Awesome! I want to get Lenetta back with the male... she's in pretty good shape for a gecko that just laid eggs, and she ate 5 crickets and 10 mealworms yesterday (I'm out of feeders now... gotta run to the store) when should I put the male back with her?

Ummm so The humidity was getting low inside the incubator and I wasn't sure if it was affecting the reading on the thermometer and so I put a dish of water and in 10 minutes it was 113*. And hot to the touch. The incubation medium was not very hot and the air temp inside the box was 90 (which is a little higher than I was going for but not gonna kill them) I'm really worried and confused. What is up???!!!

She shouldn't need paired to the male again. If the first eggs are fertile all of the next ones should be too.
It sounds like your incubator isn't working. It could be from the excess humidity. Are you keeping the eggs in deli cups or containers? If so you don't need to worry about humidity.

Yeah they're in deli cups. I let the humidity out and moved the eggs into the hova-bator temporarily. I checked the thermostat with my multimeter and its working fine, so it's either that my 5vdc fan is too hot, or I have too many water bottles as thermal masses that let off too much heat. I still don't get why it worked for 24 hours and then got too hot with the extra humidity, though.

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Originally Posted by Lizrd_boy

Yeah they're in deli cups. I let the humidity out and moved the eggs into the hova-bator temporarily. I checked the thermostat with my multimeter and its working fine, so it's either that my 5vdc fan is too hot, or I have too many water bottles as thermal masses that let off too much heat. I still don't get why it worked for 24 hours and then got too hot with the extra humidity, though.

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I am by no means any sort of expert on thermostats or incubators, but I agree- I don't see how or why 'humidity' would influence your t-stat, but what about the length of time you had the incubator open, making adjustments (water bottles?) or observations? If I'm not mistaken, some kinds of t-stats might "react" aggressively (rather than incrementally?) to re-establish the temperature it was set for?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I am by no means any sort of expert on thermostats or incubators, but I agree- I don't see how or why 'humidity' would influence your t-stat, but what about the length of time you had the incubator open, making adjustments (water bottles?) or observations? If I'm not mistaken, some kinds of t-stats might "react" aggressively (rather than incrementally?) to re-establish the temperature it was set for?

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Yeah I'm thinking that was probably it. I let the thing run without the eggs in it and in 30 minutes it was back to normal. I put the eggs back in and the temp is pretty consistent -- between 87.9 and 90.5. This will give me males, which is what I was going for, although I wish the range was a little tighter.

Also, is there a specific humidity level I should get inside of the egg incubation boxes? I just mixed water to vermiculite at a 1:1 ratio by weight, and put it in an airtight container that I will check every 3 days or so.

There isn't really a specific humidity that you need. Most of the time hygrometers will malfunction after a while at those levels. When you check it don't open the cups (assuming they are clear), it will let out humidity.

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Originally Posted by Erie_herps

There isn't really a specific humidity that you need. Most of the time hygrometers will malfunction after a while at those levels. When you check it don't open the cups (assuming they are clear), it will let out humidity.

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Wait, don't open them??? they are air tight so I thought I had to open them every 3 days or so briefly for airflow.

Also, I am the biggest IDIOT ever to walk the face of the earth. The reason the water was so hot was cuz it was from the "HOT" faucet. I AM SO STUPID. I totally forgot I AM SUCH AN IDIOT LOL. At least the eggs are probably fine :stupidme:

Since they're air tight you could either put 1-2 small pinholes in it or just crack it open about once every 1-2 weeks. I don't think you would need to open it since eggs use very little air. It depends on the size of the container. And mistakes are how we learn. Just a few days ago I had a mourning gecko escape (luckily I caught it), but that quickly taught me to check enclosures much better, lol.

I don't open mine except:

-- to add more eggs, up to 8 eggs max in a 16oz cup, and
-- near the end of the incubation period when the eggs respire more, I fan them out every few days, and
-- to remove hatchlings.

I don't vent leo egg containers, as I find they dry out too fast if I do. Other species I do differently (big masses of colubrid eggs, for example).

Everyone has tricks that work for them, and figuring them out takes practice.

Awesome. I'll probably just put a pinhole in the top of the container and leave it... I don't know.

I looked at the high and low temps for the incubator after it had been running for long enough for the temp to go through about 3 cycles of heating, shutting off, and heating, and the highest was 90.6, and the lowest was 88.3. To verify, these are the right temps to get males? Everywhere I look says 87 produces an equal ratio of males-females, and 90 produces males. This is slightly higher than 90, will that be a problem?

Also, I heard that leopard geckos have females at low temps, males at medium-high temps, and females again at high temps. is this true, and at what temp would I start getting "hot" females?

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Lizrd_boy

...I'll probably just put a pinhole in the top of the container and leave it...

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For what it's worth, when I've incubated & hatched snake eggs- (many times successfully, & never lizard eggs, btw), the eggs were in moist vermiculite, covered with but not touched by plastic that had one or 2 pin-holes in it, & the only time I ever opened the plastic over the container was to remove a bad egg, to adjust the humidity, or to briefly candle (check on) them. Best of luck! :)

I never successfully incubated for males - a couple 'off' animals made the one major attempt I can recall not worth repeating. Last year I got 2 or 3 females at 80.5F anyway.

Not sure why you'd want a male, since backcrossing is problematic enough to not do it without a very clear genetic goal in mind, one that overrides the inbreeding issues. Best to get an unrelated male with the looks/genetics you want.

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

I never successfully incubated for males - a couple 'off' animals made the one major attempt I can recall not worth repeating. Last year I got 2 or 3 females at 80.5F anyway.

Not sure why you'd want a male, since backcrossing is problematic enough to not do it without a very clear genetic goal in mind, one that overrides the inbreeding issues. Best to get an unrelated male with the looks/genetics you want.

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What exactly do you mean by 'off'? What do you think the problem was? If I lower the temp a degree or two, and go for a single male, would that probably be better?

I wanted a male to breed with my other unrelated female, Lea, sell the offspring, and buy another unrelated male.

I don't know what the problem was -- like I said, I don't really have temp sexing experience (my incubator is at the temp it is because that gives me the healthiest animals, considering all the species I incubate simultaneously), and so don't have a lot of info. Trying to work with a 2F+ range when pushing the high end of safe might have been the problem, I don't know. But try it, it might work for you.

By 'off' I mean the geckos behaved oddly. I try to shoot for best overall outcomes from incubation (and from everything else, really), and the temps I run give me those results. Trial and error, and you'll find your preferences too. :)

So how big temperature fluctuations can kill the eggs? Right now the temps are staying between 87.5 and 89.1. Is that to big?

Temperature fluctuations are natural in the wild. I think that's fine except it will have a higher chance of producing females. In theory I think a fluctuation between 80* and 90* would be fine, both are within the temperature range. I know of some breeders that change their temperature at a certain point through incubation to result in better colors.

I agree ^.

European keepers in the past did allow night drops in temps as a general practice, from what I recall reading a big handful of years ago. I'm not sure if anyone does that anymore, but for many reptile species that's a pretty natural state of affairs. I'm not sure how big a drop is appropriate or tolerable, or at what rate of temp change. I've not heard that any fluctuation it is actually beneficial so my current aim is to keep it tight.