Hi there - I am new to breeding crested geckos - this is my first season. I am currently working with two moms paired with the same male. Both moms have laid 4 clutches thus far (April, May, June & July)- with their first clutch hatching almost 4 weeks ago. Eggs are being incubated between 73-74 degrees F (room temperature at my place).
Thus far all eggs from the 1st clutch to the most recent have looked great. Well formed, good color, etc. However, today as I was misting down clutch number 2, I noticed 2 of the eggs - 1 from each mom) - have a small cut in them. only about 1cm long. This clutch (clutch #2) is at day 65, the first clutch hatched at day 92. So it is a bit odd for me to see that as I do not believe they are near hatching.
Has anyone seen small cuts/holes in their eggs? I did candle these two because I was concerned, and the geckos look to be okay and alive. But I am worried. Are small cuts/holes like these normal? Can they hurt the gecko? Is this just from the egg stretching? If this is abnormal, what can I do to prevent this in the future? I did check June’s and July’s clutches and do not see any small holes, so I do believe these may be 1 offs.
Hello @the_gecko_domain! I just wanted to welcome you to this forum family! Congratulations on your breeding progress!
I am not a gecko breeder myself but there are people here who can most definitely answer your questions! And believe me you certainly came to the right place!
The very best of wishes to you for great success and a bunch of healthy crestie babes!
Thank you very much for your kind words! It has definitely been a year of learning, but I am so excited to meet all of this year’s hatchling as they come. Looking forward to gaining more knowledge and forming community on here
Well @the_gecko_domain I surely hope you do stick around because there is soooooo much knowledge and experience here from so many people and we have a lot of fun as well! And there are no questions considered dumb here!
that is good to know! the first clutch did not do this, they did not even dent. Watched a movie one day came back to mist and boom I had hatchlings. So when I saw these little slits, I got nervous. I’ll continue to let nature take its course here and look out for clutch number 2 soon.
I agree, some of my eggs have done this just before hatching and mine have hatched around this time frame as well. Might just be smaller when they hatch this time round.