Not all eggs that a female crested gecko lays lead to baby crested geckos. Some eggs turn out infertile, that is, they do not develop any fetus.
Some eggs, unfortunately, also die due to various factors. It may help to tell which eggs of your female crested gecko are fertile, which aren’t, and which have died. Here’s how to tell if crested gecko eggs are dead.
Signs Of A Dead Crested Gecko Eggs
The most certain sign of a dead crested gecko egg is if it starts to stink. If the egg has become moldy and has started to emanate a stinky odor, know that the egg is most likely dead.
Another way of telling for sure if the crested gecko egg is dead is to use the candling method.
In this method, you need to carefully shine a bright light onto the egg to see if you can observe reddish matter inside and veins running in it.
If you can observe these things, the egg is fertile and alive. If you don’t see any veins running, the egg is most likely dead.
The Risk Involved With Candling Method
The risk involved with the candling method is that of drowning the fetus and accidentally killing it. The candling method can turn out to be counterintuitive if not done properly.
If you move or roll the egg a lot, you might end up drowning the fetus in its own amniotic fluids.
That is why only resort to the candling method if a particular crested gecko egg is stinking. Otherwise, leave the egg alone in the incubator.
After Incubation, Do Crested Gecko Eggs Die If They Haven’t Hatched?
If a certain crested gecko egg hasn’t hatched even after incubating it for a good enough margin after the threshold days, chances are that the egg is dead or infertile.
If the egg starts to stink, or if the hatching period is over and the egg has shown no signs of hatching, you may try the candling method to find out if it is infertile or dead.
Sometimes, some eggs go bad during incubation too. They may become moldy, leaky, or dented. In those cases, leave the eggs alone for the period of incubation unless they start to stink.
If any of those eggs start stinking, only then you should try inspecting the egg.
If the incubation period is over and even the candling method is not giving you any satisfactory or clear answers, you could try manually opening the egg. This should always be the last resort.
How Long Does It Take A Crested Gecko Egg To Hatch?
Provided you are using the right incubatory substrate, if you keep the eggs in a lower-temperature incubator, it will take about 100 days for the eggs to hatch.
On the other hand, for higher temperatures, the days until hatching are somewhere between 60 and 70 days.
On average, generally, a crested gecko’s eggs require 2 to 3 months of incubation to remain healthy and hatch properly.
Is It Possible To Open The Eggs Yourself?
You can cut open a crested gecko egg, but you should only do it if there is no other option remaining.
If you have incubated the crested gecko egg for close to 100 days, and if the egg still hasn’t hatched, then you may try the candling method to figure out what could possibly be the reason behind it.
If there is no reddish matter visible inside, then the crested gecko egg is infertile. If there is some matter inside but you don’t see any veins, then the crested gecko egg may be dead. If the egg starts to stink, it is certainly dead.
But, if neither of these visual inspection techniques gives you a clear answer, you can try to gently cut open the egg. You may find one of the following reasons to be the cause behind the egg not hatching all this time:
- The egg may have been dead.
- The baby crested gecko is stillborn.
- The egg is infertile.
Conclusion
Breeding a crested gecko is a very fun, interesting, and rewarding experience. But it has its own demerits, one of which is having dead crested gecko eggs.
If an egg starts stinking, it is very likely to be dead. In that case, you could use the candling technique to confirm if the egg is dead or infertile.
If you see red matter but no veins, it is most likely a dead crested gecko egg. If you see nothing, the egg is infertile.
