Leopard gecko eggs

[tonydavo]

Nice easy one this time, should the egg, after 5 days, stay soft or should it harden up ?

[bruceybonus18]

it should harden up a few hours after its been laid.if they are still soft could be they have a realy thin shell or they are duds,have you candled them.

[SleepyD]

Originally Posted by tonydavo

Nice easy one this time, should the egg, after 5 days, stay soft or should it harden up ?

after five days (usually within 24 hours) the egg should have the feel of a stale marshmallow ~ sorry but it's the nearest example that fits ~ the eggs don't harden like chickens eggs but they do firm up a bit

[tonydavo]

so I need to buy some marshmellows, let them go stale (how long does that take ?) then compare textures just having a laugh, I have a feeling that it (she's a first time bred female and the first of the 2 egg's was deffo a dud) the second egg which was laid about 8 hours after the first i think is also a dud. Ill get a light on it 2moz and see what I can see. anyone got a link to a pic of a candled good and a bad egg so that I can compare ?

[tonkaz0]

The eggs should feel firm and like a thin drumskin, if they feel really soft theres a good chance they are not fertile, if you do decide to ever candle eggs be very careful as they shouldnt to turned or jarred at all,
this should give you an idea,


How to 'candle' an egg.



Candling refers to the process of illuminating the contents of an egg. It's a relatively simple process. Here we are using a commercially available egg-candler, but a small penlight type flashlight will suffice. This can be done on eggs from about two to four weeks of age. A few tips: Keep the egg in it's normal upright position and don't overheat it with the light bulb! A few seconds is long enough to see what you need. So if you just can't stand it, you can have a look inside...
A healthy egg will glow a rosy pink, as you see here (Fig. 9). The presence of blood vessels developing under the surface of the egg (arrow) is a sure sign that the egg contains an embryo. It's busily developing these veins to carry nutrients from inside the egg to inside it's rapidly developing body! An infertile egg will usually be a yellowish color, or may be nearly solid looking dark inside if it has begun to decompose. Don't confuse this with an older egg which is filled with a developing baby! The egg must be young for candling to work.

Hope this helps Dude.

[tonydavo]

by the sound of it the egg is a dud, does this mean that any other egg's she lays this year will also be duds ? and should I re introdue the male again or try her with a different male ? sorry for all the questions but its the only way to get the answers

[SleepyD]

Originally Posted by tonydavo

by the sound of it the egg is a dud, does this mean that any other egg's she lays this year will also be duds ? and should I re introdue the male again or try her with a different male ? sorry for all the questions but its the only way to get the answers

even if the first egg is duff it does not mean that the others will be You could try putting the same male back with her for another go but she'll have saved the sperm first time round anyway........ for this reason (saving sperm) that it's not really advisable trying a different male

[tonydavo]

thanx for that, I will leave her in peace and see what happens in a couple of weeks when the next eggs come along