Egg Question

[LSD36]

I purchased a Dragon and she had 30 eggs 20 of them were collapsed and 10 look OK. I believe this was her first clutch. Does any one Know what causes this?

 

[Dachiu]

Chances are that she was previously bred and laid eggs for her last owner... who then sold her to you. The 10 fertile eggs were from sperm retention.

 

[Xelas]

My bearded dragon just laid eggs (9) and im thinking there are some problems:

-one egg is about half the size of the others
-another egg looks sunken in while the others all look somewhat rounded
-mostly all of them are not see through but not a solid white either.

I dont exactly know when she laid them, so maybe the color could be attributed to that. How hard are bearded dragon eggs supposed to be? Should i mist them? I have them in an incubator right now, does anyone know the temperature range to produce majority females? thx for any help you guys can give, and if you have any advice/stories/questions, i'd love to hear them.

 

[Xelas]

My female, Lilly, laid 3 more this morning. They all look pretty well rounded, but now some of them have a yellowish tint to them, and others have a bit of redness. Is this normal?

 

[Cat_72]

My bearded dragon just laid eggs (9) and im thinking there are some problems:

-one egg is about half the size of the others
-another egg looks sunken in while the others all look somewhat rounded
-mostly all of them are not see through but not a solid white either.

I dont exactly know when she laid them, so maybe the color could be attributed to that. How hard are bearded dragon eggs supposed to be? Should i mist them? I have them in an incubator right now, does anyone know the temperature range to produce majority females? thx for any help you guys can give, and if you have any advice/stories/questions, i'd love to hear them.

While I'm far from a Beardie expert, I can offer you some information. The eggs aren't misted, but should be kept on damp medium such as vermiculite or Perlite for moisture (just damp enough so it stays in a clump when you squeeze it, but no water drips out), with a lid on the container to keep humidity up. Bearded dragons also are not "temp sexed" critters. The sunken in egg may be either drying out, or no good....how long have you been incubating them? Can you candle them to see if it is any good?

 

[Cat_72]

Oooops, I missed where you said "she just laid them", doh.

 

[Dachiu]

Quick overview -
Fertile eggs feel like a grape - full, somewhat firm - but still malleable. If they look sunken in, deflated or are mushy, they are infertile... if they are hard, then they either got too hot in the cage or have dried out and are not viable either.

The opaque color of the eggs could be from not enough calcium during development.
The yellow tint is most likely the yolk. If the eggs aren't white, you'll be able to see shades of yellow. The red areas you can see are the embryo forming.

Follow Cat's advice on the vermiculite/perlite mixture and incubate them between 82-85. You should have hatchlings in 2 1/2 - 3 months.

Good luck!
V

PS - Be sure to up her calcium and look for another clutch in 3 weeks or so.

 

[Xelas]

Wow, thx dachiu. It doesnt seem like any of them have dried up (i added some water to the vermiclite--however you spell it) in accordance with the comment before yours (thank you, too Cat). This morning i checked on them and i thought "maybe i should smell them" and it turns out there were 5 that were a completely different color (not a black but not a blue or purple, either, somewhere in between). They all smelled bad, and were sunken in/wrinkled. All the other eggs look nicely rounded, but there is one that is VERY yellow. It didnt have a smell, so i left it in. So now i'm down to 7. So now i have a few more newbie questions if you guys dont mind:

How much should the eggs be covered (if at all) by the vermiclite?

Should there be any vents in the top of the egg container (I cut in with a knife, should i make holes or more cuts)?

Should the temperature be measured/referenced NEXT to the eggs, or around the eggs (in the air)?

Should i ever open up the top and give them some fresh air or something?

Does UVA/UVB lighting have any effect on them at this stage within the egg?

Should the temperature drop @ night?

I'll try to take some pix, right now my camera is broken so i'll either have to find someone who fixes digital or borrow one from a friend. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Dachiu]

Questions are good... We bury the eggs about 2/3 of the way into the vermiculite and have 2 small holes in the lids for air circulation. We also open the container 2-3 times a week to check for 'yucky' eggs and allow the air to exchange.

We keep our temperatures consistent, using light as a heat source. I don't know about the UV lighting, never tried it. If your lids are colored, I don't imagine much would really get to the eggs.

Good luck,
Vickie

 

[Xelas]

Questions are good... We bury the eggs about 2/3 of the way into the vermiculite and have 2 small holes in the lids for air circulation. We also open the container 2-3 times a week to check for 'yucky' eggs and allow the air to exchange.

We keep our temperatures consistent, using light as a heat source. I don't know about the UV lighting, never tried it. If your lids are colored, I don't imagine much would really get to the eggs.

Good luck,
Vickie

Why do eggs turn "yucky?"
Do small flies effect eggs/egg development? And if they do, what can i do about the small flies? (i only noticed one)
Where do i reference the temperature from?
And is it true that Beardies arent temp-sexed?

 

[Dachiu]

Sometimes an egg will go bad through incubation. The embryo will not develop correctly or something just goes wrong. These eggs will turn colors, sink in and start to smell. If you don't remove them, they will begin to mold and that will kill off the rest of the eggs.

We don't have any flies, nor any bugs in our incubator. If you start to see little flies, I would transplant the eggs into a new container asap. The flies will lay eggs in the moist vermiculite and the little maggots will have a feast when they hatch!

Our probe is fitted through a hole in the lid of one of the containers. That container is set at the highest/warmest place in the incubator. The probe kind of hangs above the eggs to gauge the air temp inside of the container. The vermiculite will almost always give you a lower temp reading since its damp and therefore just a bit cooler.

Temp sexing didn't work for us. We tried it with multiple clutches and the results were still a variety % of mixed hatch.

Vickie

 

[Xelas]

Sometimes an egg will go bad through incubation. The embryo will not develop correctly or something just goes wrong. These eggs will turn colors, sink in and start to smell. If you don't remove them, they will begin to mold and that will kill off the rest of the eggs.

We don't have any flies, nor any bugs in our incubator. If you start to see little flies, I would transplant the eggs into a new container asap. The flies will lay eggs in the moist vermiculite and the little maggots will have a feast when they hatch!

Our probe is fitted through a hole in the lid of one of the containers. That container is set at the highest/warmest place in the incubator. The probe kind of hangs above the eggs to gauge the air temp inside of the container. The vermiculite will almost always give you a lower temp reading since its damp and therefore just a bit cooler.

Temp sexing didn't work for us. We tried it with multiple clutches and the results were still a variety % of mixed hatch.

Vickie

How many times will my female lay eggs?

Is it always every 3 weeks, does it ever take longer or shorter than 3 weeks?

What kind of colors do the eggs change when they are bad?

And before you said that my female didn't have enough calcium (due to the semi-transparent eggs). What can i do to give her more calcium, other than the powder i add to her food? Egg shells scrambled in eggs? Snail shells? Bones from mice???

Is there anything i could do to the male or female to make them have more babies (higher fertility rate), like give them an aphrodisiac or something like that?

 

[FiremanJosh]

Unless they mold dont throw them away I had a few in a clutch that werent round for over a month and they still hatched. They will be "see through" at first but will turn completly white and swell to a larger size as they develope. Keep them between 78-82 degrees, NEVER mist them it will kill the by restricting oxegen exchange.Also if you dont know what you are doing do NOT try to pick the eggs up, if you tilt them from their original position the beardie will drown in its own egg. Also a beardie can lay eggs spontaneously in her first year without any male , but they will not be fertile. Sorry Im just rambling but trying to answer everything in post.Hope it helps.

 

[p_i_r_sales]

Hey guys,

Interesting subject! It actually answered a few of my own questions and made me think of a couple.

I just bought a bag of Vermiculite at my local Home Depot. I read somewhere that Vermiculite seems to mold easier then Perlite. So...I returned the Vermiculite tonight and went back to the dirt isle in search of Perlite. I picked up a bag and the perlite looked like little balls of stirofoam. It also said on the bag that it contained Miracle Grow or something.
I'm scrathing my head thinking that there is no way these eggs would be safe sitting in this stuff. So...I ended up buying another bag of Vermiculite until I did some more research.

So here are my questions.


1. Which is better?

2. Do I mix this stuff with regular dirt or do I set the eggs in straight Perlite or Vermiculite?

3. Will the weird chymicals in Vermiculite or Perlite hurt these eggs by poisoning them?



Thanks for any help you can give!

Jerit

 

[Rebel Dragons]

I use straight vermiculite and have never had a problem.

Don't use anything with added ingredients. They can be toxic and can kill the eggs. Miracle grow is poison to beardie eggs.

 

[p_i_r_sales]

GREAT!

I guess I'll stick with the Vermiculite.

Here's another ?? for ya. I've read that I need to add 2 parts water or something to the vermiculite. This is something I don't understand either.

Thanks again for your help ! ! !

Jerit

 

[Dachiu]

We use 4 parts vermiculite to 1 part water by volume. There is also a good product on the market called HatchRite. No mixing with water. Just put in the HatchRite, place the eggs in and put a lid on and thats it. We have used HatchRite and had great results.
Here is a link
http://www.hatchrite.com/

 

[p_i_r_sales]

Hey Vickie,

Good to hear from you! I bought a couple of your babies awhile back and I'm lovin em!
I'll look into that Hatchrite. That seems to be a little easier. When you say that you use "4 parts vermiculite to 1 part water by volume" what exactly does that mean? It sounds like a recipe to me, lol.

Thanks again,
Jerit

 

[Rebel Dragons]

It basically is just like a recipe. For example, 4 parts of vermiculite (4 cups) and 1 part water (1 cup). Mix together and your done. Just make sure to squeeze off any excess water as your putting it in your container.