Egg-citing day/night!!

[Burium]

Well today we bought 3 new cresteds. All three are adults and 2 of them are/were gravid females. One of them dropped, and I do mean dropped, her eggs from about 155cm high. Both are still intact. Being that it's Sunday, all stores are closed. So we put them in damp coconut peat until tomorrow when we can get some perlite or vemicilite(sp). It was really wierd. We heard a "clunk" and thought the male had jumped because we didn't see anything. Then about 45 mins. later I look and there is this white thing laying on the ground!! Wow! What a day! Will keep ya'll updated.

Kelly

[DragnDrop]

Sounds like you're going to have fun in a few weeks when the babies hatch :)

You can keep the eggs in the coconut peat, I've used it for all kinds of eggs. It works just as well, so why risk moving the eggs if you don't have to?

[Burium]

How do you keep the coconut peat moist? Is there a humidity level the eggs need to be kept at? How moist should the peat be?

Kelly

[dj_honeycuts]

Congratulations on your new purchase Kelly!
If you think you're hooked now, just wait until your first hatchling pokes it's head out of its egg! Nothing quite like it! :D
I'm not too sure about keeping moisture constant in coconut peat. One method with vermiculite i used to use was to soak it for a few minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and weigh it in the incubating container. Just check and mist the substrate every few days as the water evaporates. I don't know if this method would be way too moist with the coco peat though, so you could always follow the directions to "expand" it (if it comes in brick form), then maintain it at that weight by misting. I use perlite at a 1:1 ratio to water by weight and have great success this way.
Not sure if any of that helps you, but congrats and good luck!

[Burium]

Thanks for the help. Sounds logical. Something I was not when this happened. ;) How do ya'll deal with the wait?!

Kelly

[Burium]

Oh, and can you candle them in a few weeks to see if they are fertile? Or doesn't that work with geckos, cresteds in particular?

Kelly

[dj_honeycuts]

No problem.
I know that first clutch of eggs feeling. It's hard to be logical while your scrambling around in that "Oh my god, now what do I do" kinda haze. I think I find the first clutch of a species I've never bred before to be the worst when it comes to the wait. Many a night are spent annoying the crap out of the embryos candling them to check on the progress. And yes, you can candle the cresteds eggs to see if they are fertile. Generally the eggs will be pearly white, not yellowed, and have a red ring (blood vessels) that can be seen when you candle them. If the eggs don't look quite right I wouldn't completely right them off at first. I generally let them incubate in their own container until they mold or collapse. But if you notice when you candle them that they have a generally reddish hue, or are clear, they probably aren't going to be any good.
Happy candling! :D

[dj_honeycuts]

Oh ya, one more thing.
Mark the eggs on the top with a pen or pencil, and try not to rotate them from this orientation. The embryos might not survive being rolled around.