Another Question On Breeding

Hi- I hope to be heading into my first full fledged Leo breeding season and I have a question that has been puzzling me for a while.
I keep most of my Leos on paper towels as most people do and I was wondering what most of you guys use for a laying box for your Leos?
I am pretty much used to digging up Bearded Dragon eggs out of several inches of wet sand that is actually part of the substrate of the dragons tank so I was wondering if you provide a laying box-do you use sand or another material.
Also do most of your Leos even bother to use the box or do they just drop the eggs on the paper towels?
If they do that- how long is it before the embryo is set?
Is it about an hour or so-as with the dragons?
I have obtained some very nice Leos that I am hoping to get some beautiful babies out of and I would hate to have the eggs not hatch because they were repeated turned from just laying around on the paper towels.
I hope that this question doesn't sound as stupid to you as it does to me-LOL!!
Thanks for your replies
Sandy

I use bed-a-beast in my eggs laying tubs. It’s a coconut husk material and works very well. I’ve had a few females lay outside the eggs laying tub. I think they know they are infertile so they just drop them. I did however have one that was fertile. I caught it just after it was laid so I was able to move it quite easily. Within a few hours the egg will harden and shouldn’t be turned. I’ve actually had some turn a few days into incubation (new babies digging) and they hatched just fine.

Hi Cody-Thanks again for the reply. That sounds simple enough. I have used Bed A Beast before and I really do like it.
Sandy

I use a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite in my egg laying boxes.
My females will lay their eggs in the boxes. I have had a few cases where a few of my females just laid the eggs wherever. If you dont get to them soon enough they could dry up into a "chip" Thats what happened to me a few times, especially when I came home from work late, it was too late for the egg and it was already hard and chip like. Believe me there was no saving it, it was completely dried out.

As soon as I find my eggs I put them in the incubator right away. I always make sure that I keep a close eye on my females when they are gravid so I know when to expect them to start laying eggs for me.

Good Luck to you in the '05 season!

Thanks Shayna- The vermiculite and peat moss is actually more readily available to me as we don't have a pet store anymore in the small town that I live in and I don't drive.
I have had my oldest Tremper lay this season but she dropped all the eggs on paper towels and even tho I put them in my homemade incubator(which successfuly hatched my dragon eggs) none of them hatched.
They all fungused or molded-white fuzzy stuff all over them.
Does that mean that they were infertile or that the incubating conditions were incorrect?
Thanks
Sandy

Fuzzy eggs are usually the result of infertile eggs. You can candle them to be for sure. Also if the egg incubation medium is too wet it can cause mold.

Thanks Cody- I was prety careful with the amount of mositure in the perlite so i think that they might have been infertile. Is this unusual or usual with a females frist breeding season?
But then again it was a homemade incubator and while it did hatch the dragon eggs it might not have been right for the Leo eggs?
I plan on getting 2 incubators in the next few months-one for male and one for female.
Is this the best way to go?
Thanks
Sandy

Your welcome. If your incubator hatched dragon eggs its fine, it’s just the leo eggs. First time breeders usually lay infertile eggs. It varies with each female but all the eggs laid could infertile of just a few. Personally I think 2 incubators is the only way to go. This way you’ll be able to easily control what sex the babies are.