gila monster eggs – Page 3

Day 153: It happens! Gila monster hatching success!

November 18, 2019 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

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So, almost after all hope was lost on Day 153 the first Gila monster egg pipped from its leathery shell! Egg 02 at first cut a small slit and then a few more and over the next two days began to emerge from the egg. At first the baby Gila stuck its nose out, then it’s head, then half its body, and finally the entire body. It appears that hatching is a labor-intensive process as there are long pauses between progressive stages and also seems to be a good way of ensuring all the contents of the egg are consumed before leaving the egg. Over the ensuing days this process was (and currently is for two more lizards) repeated over and over, with Gilas emerging from their shell about two or so full days from pip to full emergence. Once the contents are completely devoured the neonate Gila monster leaves its shell and begins to wander the egg box. I witnessed one Gila that was out actually eating the egg yolk of another just coming out of its shell! Greedy bastard.

Once fully emerged and climbing around, the little monsters are pulled from the egg box, photographed, weighed, and set up solo in an 18 quart Sterelite box with paper towels as bedding and small water dish. The paper towel bedding serves as a clean substrate while the umbilical wound heals and the first few meals are eaten and passed through to make sure everything is going well. I will attempt the first feeding next week after the yolk has been fully digested and look forward to raising the babies from there!

I will be posting updates on the neonates growth, as well as some thoughts and insights on my first season captive breeding Gila monsters. Some reviews of the equipment I used is also likely in order as these items played an important role in my success. Whew, what an amazing season! The process has been fun, though frustrating and worrisome at times, and I look forward to greater success next year with these amazing reptiles!

Day 152: A watched egg never hatches

November 9, 2019 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

A Gila monster near hatch date Patience. Patience is what those in the know say. Sure, I am checking the incubator at least ten times a day for any action and patience is not my virtue, but I am old enough to know when to listen. A couple a the eggs dented in over two weeks ago, the two others are starting to dimple (not dent) and in all honesty I would be surprised if any of them hatch at this point. If they do not hatch my biggest concern is figuring out where my failure was. Is it the incubator? No, the Grumbach’s are renowned for their reliability. Is it the S.I.M. egg container? No, these have been used successfully with Gila monsters before. My temperature, though low, should not be the issue and my humidity is spot on, so it shouldn’t be that. We just started having cold fronts move through and temps have fallen so that may have a slight play into it (I have ordered a space heater to remedy this issue). At this point my guess is that since the fan in the Grumbach is unplugged that there may not be enough airflow which may be an issue, or the fact that the Pangea Hatch medium has started to grow mold adds to this theory. I do open the incubator to allow fresh air to enter but it may not be enough. Whatever the case, I will hold on hope until the last egg turns yellow and starts to sweat. If they all die I will carefully review my protocols and notes and seek the advise of successful breeders to plan for a better year next season!

On another note, I have stopped feeding my adults and am turning off the lights and under-cage heating in preparation of hibernation, which will begin after Thanksgiving. I have an old refrigerator that is hooked up to a Ranco thermostat for the cool down. Would be great if I could cool them in their cages but we do not see steady enough low temps here in northern Florida to ensure the Gila will reach and stay at 53°F for the three months of brumation.

Update 5: Waiting is the hardest part

July 20, 2019 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

L1195359 Not much has happened since the last update; one good egg died leaving me eight healthy growing eggs in the Grumbach incubator. A universal agreement on Gila monster eggs is to leave them the F* alone during the long incubation time. I have a hard time doing this but have been a good bean and done so by only check through the incubator’s clear door and light to make sure none are dying. The Grumbach is holding temps and humidity as it should; Temperature ranges from 77.5˚F to 79.5˚F and humidity in the incubator stays at a steady ±90% RH (relative humidity) with the Squamata Concepts S.I.M. egg boxes at 100% RH. I have three SensorPush sensors (one in each egg box, one in the incubator) connected to a SensorPush Gateway to monitor temperature and humidity. And the Gilas? All are eating and back to normal, with the females gaining weight nicely. I still find it interesting how the feeding habits changed so much during the breeding season and look forward to more data next year from this interring period of time.

L1195296 — The egg on the right was good with a solid blood ring and growing nicely with nice veins before it suddenly died. Not sure what happened as the others in the clutch continue to grow.

L1195257 — The sweating of the egg on the left is a sure sign of bad things to come.

L1195243 — These eggs look good and smell like fresh, moist soil. The SensorPush sensor is placed in each egg box to track temperature and humidity.

I wanted to post a few photos of good eggs and bad / dead eggs (see above) and discuss a few observations. When an egg goes bad, there is no mistaking it; they begin to sweat, discolor, and smell awfully. The good eggs remain turgid and whitish in color, with increasing veining (last I checked a few weeks ago) when candled. I do not plan to open the incubator door again unless something is going wrong or an egg dies, so hopefully they are growing and not just looking good….

My next post will be one on the tools being used in my program for Gila monster breeding and incubation.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Update 4: Eggstravaganza!!

June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

L1195228 — Gila 03 “Belle” dropping her second egg.

It’s been all quite on the update front as, well, there has not been much to report. Until now, that is! On Friday June 7, Gila 03 dropped one egg over the night and I came upon it at 6am when getting up for work. I candled the egg but did not see a blood ring (something that viable eggs have) but put the egg into an egg box just in case. For those that have not heard of this stuff yet, candling is using a flashlight to light up the egg to see what is going on inside. The blood ring is the blastoderm that will one day become a baby. No blood ring, no baby. Gila 03 did not drop her eggs in succession and the next one came Friday night around 10pm. This egg also did not look viable, but was more solid than the first. The third egg from 03 came Saturday afternoon and had a clear, but small (dime-sized) blood ring. I think 03 has more eggs in her, but she hasn’t dropped yet. Now when will little 05 drop her eggs….

L1195232 — Candling a freshly-laid Gila monster egg. The blood ring is readily visible upon inspection.

That answer came Sunday morning when I got up around 7am and two eggs were in the nest box. Two, beautiful healthy eggs! Now, 05 is on the smaller side (757 grams pre-breeding season) so I did not expect many eggs from her but over the course of the next eight hours she would go on to lay a total of six viable eggs! Poor girl, she looks exhausted.

L1195233 — Gila 05 “Heather” dropped her first two eggs over the night.

L1195237 — Heather on egg #4! Look at the size of that thing!!

Now is the hardest part, incubation. I hope everything is set up right in the Grumbach S84 as I’ve had the humidity (90%RH) and temperature (79°F) dialed in for a month now. I opted to go for a lower temperature as outside temps have hit over 100°F in May so I expect the Summer to be pretty hot and I do not want the eggs exposed to high temperatures.

I’ll post some more thoughts and data that have been collected in the meanwhile, but fingers crossed the eggs make it to term and we have baby monsters in the Fall!