fertile or not

[maverickgrl79]

is there anyway to tell if eggs are fertile? I have foster Leos and from the looks of it going to have eggs soon. no back round on the females they were a seized by animal control. 2 females i was told there was a third that was dead and unable to tell sex.

 

[Caleb C]

I'm guessing they were housed with males. They probably are fertile. Are you planning to incubate them?

 

[maverickgrl79]

well i guess i better huh lol can one build an incubator ? or is there an inexpensive one?

 

[acpart]

You can candle the eggs by shining a flashlight through them. If they're fertile, in the early stages you will see a red "bull's eye" shape and in the later stages you'll see a pink as opposed to a yellow color. That said, there are eggs I've candled as fertile that not only didn't hatch, but never had anything in them and eggs that didn't seem to candle fertile that hatched healthy babies, so I don't do it much.
To incubate, the eggs need to be someplace where they have adequate humidity (usually accomplished by putting them in a closed container with moist substrate) and a steady temp within 2 degrees in the 80-88 degree range. Some people have a place like that in their homes but otherwise an incubator is necessary. There are many plans online for building an incubator out of a styrofoam container, aquarium or mini fridge. In my opinion, the cheapest "beginner" incubator is probably the ZooMed incubator, which is more expensive than the traditional hobovator but already includes the proportional thermostat that you have to spend an extra $100 on when you get the hobovator.
I highly recommend googling "leopard gecko breeding" to read about how-to.

Aliza

 

[maverickgrl79]

You can candle the eggs by shining a flashlight through them. If they're fertile, in the early stages you will see a red "bull's eye" shape and in the later stages you'll see a pink as opposed to a yellow color. That said, there are eggs I've candled as fertile that not only didn't hatch, but never had anything in them and eggs that didn't seem to candle fertile that hatched healthy babies, so I don't do it much.
To incubate, the eggs need to be someplace where they have adequate humidity (usually accomplished by putting them in a closed container with moist substrate) and a steady temp within 2 degrees in the 80-88 degree range. Some people have a place like that in their homes but otherwise an incubator is necessary. There are many plans online for building an incubator out of a styrofoam container, aquarium or mini fridge. In my opinion, the cheapest "beginner" incubator is probably the ZooMed incubator, which is more expensive than the traditional hobovator but already includes the proportional thermostat that you have to spend an extra $100 on when you get the hobovator.
I highly recommend googling "leopard gecko breeding" to read about how-to.

Aliza

Thanks i will look into it, uff not what i wanted to be dealing with lol. but i would feel so guilty if they are fertile and i let them die.

 

[acpart]

Another option is to give them to a local breeder and let them incubate.

Aliza