My leopard gecko laid her first ever clutch last week. I candled them that day and they are both fertile. Didn’t realize until today that my hygrometer that was being used for the incubator wasn’t working correctly and was readying lower then what it was. The eggs have dented on the bottoms where they was in the substrate. I fixed the issue and I recandled them and I’m still seeing the red bull eye of the embryo. I’m just concerned that with this happening they may become infertile, I have scoured the Internet but cannot find anything about how to determine early death on a leopard gecko egg. So is there a way to determine if the embryos have died or if they are still viable?
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There are several leo experts here abouts that will be along shortly to help you out. Hope the eggs are good and everything works out.
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Welcome to the forum!
Adjust the moisture in your incubation medium and just keep incubating the eggs. If they have gone bad they will eventually mold. ‘Incubate until there’s no debate.’ I’m not aware of any way, other than candling, to monitor viability of an egg.
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I fixed the moisture in the medium. I candled them and I can still see the embryonic bullseye. I’m assuming if the embryos are to die then the bullseye would change in some way? I’ve been keeping a very close eye on them and will continue to adjust as needed.
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As the embryos grow, you will no longer be able to see the veins, so that only works with recently laid eggs. In general it is much much better for the eggs to leave them alone and not check on them/take them out of the incubator. I know it’s tempting, but so long as they have the right temperature and humidity, they will be fine.
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If they are still dented you should try to raise the humidity by either covering ventilation and/or adding more moisture. I don’t use a hygrometer in my incubation containers. I just estimate it based on the condensation and if the eggs are dented or not. The eggs will be just fine, and “Incubate until there’s no debate”. Even if you think the eggs went bad it doesn’t hurt to incubate them in case they are still good.
And as @mblaney said, it’s best to avoid moving them or candling them. If you really want to candle them you can hold the light up to the egg without moving it, but moving the egg can be risky.
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