Josh's Frogs
Egg Laying Tube
Numerous gecko species glue their eggs to surfaces - be it plants, cork bark, bamboo, or even crevices of their enclosure. These “egg-gluers” present a unique challenge: once their eggs have been glued to something, they can’t be removed without breaking the egg itself. There’s risk even when cutting it out from a plant; the smallest bit of bending in the leaf often produces enough tension to break the egg.
In addition, incubating eggs directly in an enclosure can be very hazardous and unpredictable. Don’t get us wrong: geckos are very intelligent when it comes to egg placement: they’ll always find the most ideal location to place their eggs in the wild, depending on the local conditions. However, whereas conditions in the wild can be stable overall, enclosures, being smaller environments, are much more prone to very rapid fluctuations in temperature or humidity--especially when compared to incubating the eggs! Extreme shifts in the enclosure’s environment can either disrupt growth in the egg, leading to a higher chance of birth defects, or altogether end development in the egg.
Eggs glued in the enclosure experience a number of other risks from their immediate environment. Whereas eggs laid in the wild are simply left alone by their parents, the smaller captive environment means that the geckos are much more likely to run into and around them, and the excitable, nervous, often frantic nature of many smaller geckos--like day geckos or mourning geckos--can easily lead them to accidentally breaking their own eggs with a single precarious motion. Any eggs laid on pliable surfaces, like fake or real leaves, are especially prone to breaking, either from a gecko’s quick movements or the careless hand of a keeper, maybe moving some plants aside to spot clean the substrate. Even if they’re kept in secure, stable conditions, accessible eggs can be chewed on and damaged by hungry crickets and other feeder insects.
Fortunately, for the smaller egg-gluing species, we’ve successfully tested a great solution: egg laying tubes. These simple tubes are equipped with a suction cup to keep them elevated and easily placed against any smooth glass or plastic surface. The small, secure nature of the tubes mimics the small nooks and crannies that geckos seek out in the wild to place their eggs, enticing them to glue their eggs to the interior of the tube.
Using the egg-laying tubes is as easy as it sounds: simply place a number of them around on the enclosure walls. Providing multiple tubes in multiple areas increases the chance that they’ll be used, since a single tube might be in a location that geckos might not deem viable for laying eggs. We recommend placing the tubes horizontally and vertically upside down (placing them vertically right side up can cause them to fill with water when the enclosure is misted).
Be aware that, if placed in the middle of their breeding season, geckos may still prefer to lay their next egg clutch or two away from the tubes; we’ve observed that it takes a few weeks for the geckos to become accustomed to the tubes and observe them as ideal laying locations. There’s always a chance that eggs will still be laid outside of the tubes, but, so long as multiple egg laying tubes are provided, we’ve found that a majority of eggs are laid within them!
Are you looking for tubes for larger species? Don’t worry, we’re currently testing and trying out larger tubes for larger egg-gluers!Topics in this Blog
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