First clutch ever!

[cinderbird]

My female, Orchid laid her first clutch yesterday. They seem fertile (calcification is a bit uneven on the one egg, but I checked her calcium stores prior to introducing the male and they looked great). Shes already eaten her dinner. I am SO excited!

Hopefully in 30-60 days I'll have some little baby geckos bouncing around. The first things I'll produce that aren't roaches! They are in an empty space in my rack that has an air temp of 74-75 F.

I'll candle them when i find my LED light, i seem to have misplaced it.

[bad-one]

Congrats!!! I hope these eggs hatch out for you, breeding cresties is incredibly fun!

Btw, at those temps you are looking more at 70-90 days
(53 was my earliest and that was incubating at 80-83*F)

[mlededee]

Woohoo! Congrats. Typical incubation times start at 60 days and go up depending on your temps--you definitely don't want your cresteds hatching at 30 days. I usually wait a few days before candling freshly laid eggs. You can't always see the pink cheerio right after they are laid, but it should become very clear within the first week. Good luck!

[cinderbird]

Congrats!!! I hope these eggs hatch out for you, breeding cresties is incredibly fun!

Btw, at those temps you are looking more at 70-90 days
(53 was my earliest and that was incubating at 80-83*F)

Woohoo! Congrats. Typical incubation times start at 60 days and go up depending on your temps--you definitely don't want your cresteds hatching at 30 days. I usually wait a few days before candling freshly laid eggs. You can't always see the pink cheerio right after they are laid, but it should become very clear within the first week. Good luck!

haha thanks for the replies!

I typed the 30 days and then went back and looked at my literature and found that was totally wrong. The temps in my empty rack space seem to be holding at 74.4-76.4 i could test closer to the heat tape but i'd rather they take longer to hatch and be bigger than hatch faster with smaller babies.

Thank you so much for the incubation info I'll mark 80 days down on the tub.

When she lays her next clutch, do you guys put it in the same egg box as the older eggs or use a new one? I worry about the newer eggs hatching and then the babies rolling the newer eggs or something as they explore the box.

[mlededee]

Your temps are perfect for incubating--a little lower and slower is really good for cresteds because they tend to hatch out larger and healthier that way. I use the same box for my all of eggs, but I number my eggs for documentation so if they get rolled I can tell because the number isn't facing up anymore.

[cinderbird]

Your temps are perfect for incubating--a little lower and slower is really good for cresteds because they tend to hatch out larger and healthier that way. I use the same box for my all of eggs, but I number my eggs for documentation so if they get rolled I can tell because the number isn't facing up anymore.

Oh good call. I'll number these guys. Pencil is ok? I've seen sharpees used on them but i worry about the egg absorbing the sharpee ink or something.

[mlededee]

Pencil is fine, but I've always used a Sharpie with no ill effects. Of course if the egg is undercalcified I wouldn't recommend Sharpie because it doesn't have as much of a barrier.