| Incubating and Eggs |
| Egg Clutches Leopard Geckos usually produce multiple clutches of two eggs during the breeding season. Occasionally clurches of single eggs are laid, particularly with very young or older females. The first year of breeding females tend to lproduce one to three cluthes. With age females can lay eight clutches of fertile eggs in one breeding season. After a few years of producing large amounts of eggs( usually between 13 - 16 clutches) the females tend to lay fewer and fewer eggs as they get older, until they totally stop producing eggs. Egg Production Rate One year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0 Two years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Three years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Four years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Five years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Six years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Seven years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Eight years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Nine years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Ten years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Eleven years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Twelve years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Thirteen years . . . . . . . . . . . . .0 This female is in the process of laying a clutch of two eggs. Egg-Laying As female leopard geckos get closer to egg deposition, the developping eggs become more clearly defined and will cause slight bulging of the sides of the abdomen.Breeders pri,arily use two methods for collecting eggs. One is to leave the enclosure as it is, mist the inside of the shelter daily so that the ground medium is slightly damp(not soaking wet, slightly damp!) and check the enclosure once or twice a day to see if the gravid female has laid her eggs. Most breeders use an egg-laying "chamber" consiting of a plastic container half filled with vermiculite, perlite or sand, misted so that it is moist(not damp.) The container must be big enough to fit the gravid female. A hole (big enough to fit the gecko) should then be cut just above the level of moistened medium (vermiculite, perlite or sand) and then placed in the cool end of the enclosure. Freshly laid leopard gecko eggs are often soft and slightly sticky to the touch. Let them sit for half an hour, where they were laid, and they will firm up and feel slightly chalky. After you have let them firm up place them in an incubator. When you pick the eggs up be sure that you place them ni the incubator the exacy way they were laid. I mean don't let them rotate at all. The best way to make sure you place them in the incubator the way they were laid is to draw a mark with a non-toxic felt pen or marker on the top of the egg. Make sure you don't press too hard on the egg. Incubators Their are many ways to incubate your eggs. It all depends on how much you're wanting to spend. The best thing to do is to consult your lizard specialist at your local pet store or call a vet who specializes in exotics(reptiles) and ask them. If you are having trouble finding out what to do about an incubator you can contact me for a few suggestions. E-mail me! Incubation Temperatures Recent studies have shown that the sex of a leopard gecko is determined by the temperature that the egg(s) were incubated at. If the eggs were incubated between 79 - 83 degrees F the majority of the offspring would be female. If the eggs were incubated between 84 - 87 degrees F the offspring would be more or less of equal ratios of males and females. Between 88 - 91 degrees the majority of the offspring would be male. If females are born after having been incubated in a higher temperature they are usually very aggressive and considered "unbreedable." The humidity in the incubator should be between 55% - 65%. Incubating eggs should be checked on a regular basis to ensure the tmperature and humidity don't drop or raise significantly. If the humidity gets to high the eggs often become "waterlogged" and go rotten. when the eggs go rotten they turn brown, collapse and start to smell. This also happens if the eggs are not fertile. Fertile eggs retain their shape, are firm and white. When you know that your female is gravid(pregnant) you should set up your incubator and adjust it to you achieve the correct temperature(depending on what sex you desire) and the humidity so that when the eggs are laid you just have to put them in the incubator. After the eggs have been laid and are in the incubator the eggs can take anywhere from 45 - 60 days to hatch depending on the temperature. Raising Juveniles |