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CHRISANDBOIDS14
07-10-04, 11:57 PM
Hello everyone,

I had aquired some pictus geckos back in december. I have been keeping the trio ever since I got them. They began breeding about 5 months ago, and about half the eggs were in either too moist conditions, were cracked during laying, or other causes(such as mold). Anyways, The second clutch I got, I put the eggs in for incubation. One egg molded up and went bad, the other one did ok. It has been 4 months since it was incubating, and I expected it to hatch in 2-3 months. My temps were 80 during the day, and 70-75 at night. They were in a little clear container with moist vemiculite. Today, I decided that since it had been 4 months(about 120 days), I figured I would slit the egg. Well, I cut it, and inside I found a baby pictus gecko. The egg was about 1cm long, and the gecko about 2cm long. There was quite abit more yolk in the egg than I expected. The gecko had moved abit, so I knew it was alive. I was shocked to find a gecko in it at all. I was holding it in my hand and took off the thin clear slick bag thingy(whats it called again?) off the baby, and it moved around abit. It looked fully formed, but upon further inspection, the top part of the head was not solid, and there was brain tissue right under the skin. The body also looked a little thin. The legs were just skin and bone, litterally. I kept it warm by blowing hot air from my mouth over it. It was also on my warm hand. Later(about 15-20 mins), it died im my hand. I feel like a murderer. I figure it was my fault and I should have let it hatch on its own. I slit it because it had been alot longer than I thought it should have, and I alwasy hear about people slitting eggs and never hear about babies that are not fully formed. It was a beautiful little baby, im sorry it had to die. I am stoping them from breeding, to fatten them up, and then Vanan will be purchasing them. At least I know the eggs are fertile. I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance. They are VERY small animals, with small eggs, and a small hatch size. you will be amazed that the head is at its full size. Im sorry little one!:(

C.

These guys are my first breeding "sucesses", though I did not really suceed in anything but death. They dont require any pre breeding conditioning either, so it doesnt really take much to breed them.

Kevin McRae
07-11-04, 01:19 AM
Well you learned something from this, just let the egg incubate till it gets moldy or cracked.

DragnDrop
07-11-04, 08:52 AM
I'm sorry to hear about your problems getting the eggs to hatch. Chances are it's easy to correct though.
I used to incubate the eggs at 82-85 F. It's possible you're at the lethal minimum temperature which could explain the slow development. Are you keeping the eggs in direct contact with moist media? They're hardshelled eggs, so they shouldn't be touching it like leopard or other soft shelled eggs. The easiest is to put them on/in a tiny lid, something like a pop bottle lid and place that on the moist vermiculite or whatever you're using. I've even incubated them on the lids sitting in a delicup without any moisture. If hard shelled eggs get too moist they die so fast you wouldn't believe it.

CHRISANDBOIDS14
07-11-04, 01:26 PM
Thanks DragnDrop! I will definetly try that, as I have 1 egg incubating right now and I saw one of my females is carying two eggs.

C.

Vanan
07-11-04, 05:05 PM
Hey Chris. Sorry you had to go through that man. It's those kinda lessons you learn along the way, that eventually make you a more knowledgeable herper. Nothing sinks in harder than personal experience. Best of luck with the other eggs.

Samba
07-14-04, 12:57 PM
Sorry to hear about the baby, I know you must be disappointed... Hopefully your next clutches will be more and more successful. Don't be so hard on yourself... a lot of us have made mistakes, but you've learned what not to do... please post those pix soon, and we look forward to hearing about your next babies!