Bearded dragon eggs????

Hi

Just have some questions regarding bearded dragon eggs my bearded dragons mated on the 24/9/07 and the female (of course) laid her first clutch on the 19/10/07 (24 eggs), her second clutch on the 13/11/07 (20 eggs), her 3rd clutch on the 13/12/07 (22 eggs) now from what I have read etc etc I am thinking the first lot will hatch possibly from next week onwards, provided I have done all theother things right, I am wondering:-

How do you know if any of the eggs are good?
How long should I wait, if any hatch, to leave the unhatched egg? I am definately thinking two from the 1st clutch are no good as they seem to be "swollen" and a lot bigger compared to the others.
How old should they be before I attempt to find new homes?

I have read through posts and even searched on the net and read some books but can't seem to find a definitive answer to the above questions, any help appreciated.

Thanks
Tracy

tracym666 said:

Hi

How do you know if any of the eggs are good?
How long should I wait, if any hatch, to leave the unhatched egg? I am definately thinking two from the 1st clutch are no good as they seem to be "swollen" and a lot bigger compared to the others.

Thanks
Tracy

Click to expand...

That does not sound like those eggs are bad Tracy, can you take and photos and post them for us to see? Have you candled the eggs? (Shone a torch into them to see if you can see any red vessels in them)?

Simone.

Some of these eggs were much larger and rounder than others but all hatched excluding the one that is caved in.

Simone.

incubation time is temperature dependant but as a guide it takes anywhere between 45 - 60 days. Swollen is good, they have absorbed moisture. They should start sweating soon which indicates they are getting ready to hatch.

my average this season is 46 days at 30.5 deg C

Depending on what temperature you incubate at, they should take approximately 60 days to hatch. I've been incubating at 30/31 degrees and my first two clutches this season have hatched at 60 days and 61 days.

Good eggs will look firm and white, with a sort of pinkish tinge. When candled, you should be able to see a network of red veins going all around the inside of the shell. Bad eggs will often have a yellowish tinge, and may collapse and/or begin to mould. If your eggs look plump and white, they are probably good - the eggs take in water during incubation, which is what causes them to swell slightly. Right before they hatch they will often start to sweat and dent a little.

The eggs won't always hatch at once. My first clutch hatched over a span of three to four days, whereas my second clutch were all out within 24 hours. So if they don't all hatch at the same time, don't panic. The babies also look kind of dead when they first hatch, but don't interfere with them - they'll soon be up and running around like crazy.

As long as they are healthy and feeding well, you can send them off to new homes around two or three weeks, although some people choose to wait a little longer. Up to you. They start to feed on insects within around two or three days from hatching. My first clutch are two and a half weeks old and I've now got them eating crix, woodies, salad and beardie pellets.

The above is just based on my own limited experience, if anything I have said is incorrect feel free to correct me :lol:

Here's a couple of pics of what healthy eggs should look like.

eggs

hi read your thread and have some anserws to questions if the eggs become moldy there probly off but don;t give up on them caues they might come good. if they go hard and yellow they might be infertial i have pygmys wich are yet to make fertial eggs so i can speak from expereance
about infertial eggs. you will know when there in hatching reach becaues they will go
deflated and a tiny split will aper on the egg. remember to keep them moist and at the good temp hpe you have good eggs post some pics of there parents and the babys when and if they hatch


hope these are answers you are looking for cheers

Just on incubating beardie eggs, would a chicken incubator do the job? I know that it's minimum temp is around 33 - 34, is that too hot?

Miss B That is a top picture showing the veins in the egg.

Simone.

koubee said:

Just on incubating beardie eggs, would a chicken incubator do the job? I know that it's minimum temp is around 33 - 34, is that too hot?

Click to expand...

Incubation for Central Beardies at 29 -31 deg is around 55 - 65 days, all eggs may take 2 - 4 days to hatch, Never open any egg unless it is clearly dead ie; smelly, mouldy and sunken. eggs will hatch at 33 - 34 deg esp as you may find the egg temp is a couple of degrees lower than the ambient.

Thanks for the replies, great pictures of the eggs, thanks for that,I will try to get some pictures in the next week if they don't start to hatch, I have been slowed to 64kbs until the 21st as my kids (teenagers) have "downloaded" online gamed" and "you tubed" like crazy this month so it's a little labouring to get any pictures downloaded as we are all networked and sharing the internet.

I have done the torch shining thing and they all have red veins, they are all "plump" just two of them are a lot plumper than the others and larger, but it looks like I now have a waiting game. There are no "smells" or mold etc, so I am hoping everything is going okay.

Looks like I am waiting for the "sweating and deflating" of the eggs
Thanks again
Cheers
Tracy