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What did I do wrong? Moldy egg....

N

NodeOfRanvier

NodeOfRanvier
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I've had cresteds for a few years but recently acquired a female off here to breed. She'd been previously bred and I'm not sure how recently tho. I put her in with one of my males (shoulda quarantined oops) and a few days later there was an egg on top of the substrate. Possibly fathered by the previous owners male, mine or unfertile since it was only a few days after being with my male.
Is it normal for them not to bury the eggs? The surface of the egg wasn't uniform, as tho patches of the 'shell' had varying thicknesses, almost like it'd been sprinkled with big chunks of salt or some crystalline substance.

I thought I would have more time before getting eggs and didn't have an incubator so searched around and found this really informative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4P3_PtL7ZY and followed her instructions.

I couldn't find peralite with out nitrogen and phosphorous additives in it (only sold miracle grow brand) so bought vellimucite instead. Put the egg and the substrate in a little plastic box and set it in one of my other geckos terrariums (to keep warm, my house is pretty drafty) and set a thermeter/hydrometer next to it and mist the tank w/ the box in it a few times a day. Temp/Humdity in the terrerium runs between 78 to 69 F and humidity between 60/75%. The little box the egg is in has condensation on the sides and the vellumicite is still moist. Been checking on it every few days and opening it for air exchange but today it had mold on it. Rubbed the mold off with a paper towel and the end where the mold was is slightly discolored. Is it to humid or a dud?
Sorry for the deluge of questions, never bred reptiles before... trying to do it right. Thanks!
 
I don't know anything about cresties, but with what I know about leo eggs... the egg could have just been a dud. You mentioned that the shell looked irregular and the female didn't bury her eggs. I know when it comes to leopard geckos, the female will lay outside of the lay box, in the water dish, or just somewhere odd when the eggs are infertile. Also, infertile eggs generally have irregular and sometimes discolored shells.
 
I don't have any cresties myself, but I have heard that it is not uncommon for them to lay out in the open like that, or even stuck to the side of the tank, making incubation really difficult lol.
I don't know what the humidity requirements for crestie eggs are either, but if there is condensation inside the egg cup, its prob too high. Also, you listed a temp diffenential of close to 10 degrees, way too much for an egg.
Most likely tho, was unfertile
 
For temps you want them 73-80Deg. F I keep mine at 78-80. Too much variance in the temp may kill the embryo. They take 60-90 days to hatch. At the 78-80, all five of mine hatched 60 days exactly. I'm not sure what the exact humidity levels should be, but the eggs will only show condensation the day or so before hatching; any earlier and the humididty is too high. I also use cocunut fiber for my hatching substrate and 10 geckos later (5 fat tails + 5 cresties) and I havn't had a problem with it.
 
The differences in thickness of eggshells could be lack of calcium prior to you getting the crested. They don't always bury eggs. Make sure the eggs themselves don't get wet. They are porous and the moisture can close those pores. The embryo can't get air then. This is especially critical the closer you get to hatch date. I prefer vermiculite for my eggs. It doesn't dry out as quick as perlite. There is a new hatching perlite called "Hatch Rite" if you prefer that
 
That's the one I use. You want to have it set up at least 24 hrs before you put any eggs in, to let the temps regulate and settle down correctly. You may want to get a better thermometer than what comes with it, I use a digital thermometer.
 
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