hi everyone im barb from cheshire in the uk this is the first time i have used this site i hope someone can help me. i have 2 leopards and 6 med spur thighed,2 of the meds are 5-6 years old and are male and female, on saturday the female dug a hole laid an egg and carefully covered it up tuesday she laid another and 2 more on wednesday but she did'nt bury them she just left them on top of the soil, i was wondering why she did this and what are the chances of them being fertile. i have never bred them before so no idea what im doing, i have them in a hovabator at 31.5 with a humidity of 70. i have read you can candle them but don't know how and when to do it and what im looking for. hope someone can help i would be very grateful of any advice. thanks

Hi Barb,
Great news about your eggs You've got them set-up great. It's very possible that all the eggs are fertile. Females laying for the first time don't always know exactly what their doing.
You can candle them at any time. The best way to do it is with a small torch, with the room dark. The best way is not to pick up the eggs, but just shine the light into the egg. The first sign an egg is fertile is that it will turn white (chalk up). When you shine the light into the egg it will show up as a darker spot. The spot will grow to cover the whole egg. After 2 weeks you will see a blood vessel ring and from there on out the blood vessels will grow in number and get bigger. There are pictures on the forum already if you search for them.

Danny

Hello and welcome to TFO!!!! I hope your eggs are good!!!

thanks for the reply very helpful any idea why shes had them over a few days and not all at once shes still acting strange looks like shes having more and putting weight on evey day. ive been told she will keep having them all year is this true.

She could have up to 4 clutches in one year.

Danny

Hi Barb,
Great news about your eggs You've got them set-up great. It's very possible that all the eggs are fertile. Females laying for the first time don't always know exactly what their doing.
You can candle them at any time. The best way to do it is with a small torch, with the room dark. The best way is not to pick up the eggs, but just shine the light into the egg. The first sign an egg is fertile is that it will turn white (chalk up). When you shine the light into the egg it will show up as a darker spot. The spot will grow to cover the whole egg. After 2 weeks you will see a blood vessel ring and from there on out the blood vessels will grow in number and get bigger. There are pictures on the forum already if you search for them.

Danny

i have just candled my eggs like you said and all i can see is yellow but 3 of them have shelled i have i any hope with them