Leopard gecko breeding questions

[Bogertophis]

Thanks. Is the defect likely to be the case with the other egg as well, or the next clutches she lays?

I met someone at Rexpo today who said that they used vermiculite for their leo eggs and it always made the eggs mold. She said she uses perlite and has had much better results. Should I try that for the next clutch?

I've only hatched snake eggs, & only with vermiculite, so I can't tell you much- only that vermiculite holds more water than perlite, & whether that was the real reason for the mold, or it was just a coincidence, I can't say. Most of us try things, & we stick with them when they work for us- your experience with the same things may be totally different.

Just like 2 cooks can follow the same recipe & their food turns out differently. Maybe she used too much water with the vermiculite & the eggs drowned, then molded. Impossible to know what went wrong there. It's often recommended to measure the water added but after the first time, I never did- I just always went by "feel" & did quite well. (I usually cook the same way. )

I wouldn't make any assumptions about the other egg, much less future clutches- I don't think I've ever had a clutch that hatched 100%. Nature just isn't perfect.