How to Keep Lizard Eggs Alive

The most difficult part of breeding lizards is keeping the lizard eggs alive until they hatch. Even small temperature fluctuations can kill them. From collecting to hatching the eggs, keeping lizard eggs alive requires moisture, gentle handling and a constant, safe temperature. For most species, this can be achieved using a circulated air egg incubator and special incubation medium, but the temperature that keeps lizards alive depends on the species.

Things You'll Need

  • Flashlight
  • Non-toxic marker
  • Incubation medium
  • Plastic food container
  • Circulated air egg incubator
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Instructions

    • 1

      Check to see if the lizard egg is alive. You can do this by turning off the lights in the room and gently holding the egg between your thumb and forefinger. Shine a flashlight directly behind the egg, with the glass touching the egg. This will illuminate the entire inside of the egg, a process called candling. If the egg is filled with tiny red veins or appears pink, it is alive. If the egg is completely clear and yellow inside, it is likely not alive. It could just be that the eggs were just laid and the embryo hasn't developed enough to be seen. Incubate these eggs anyway and candle them again in one week. When candling the eggs, do not rotate them or turn them to any position other than the one you found them in. Mark the tops of the egg with a non-toxic marker or pencil to remind yourself of the way they should face.

    • 2

      Moisten the incubation medium. The incubation medium can be anything soft that retains moisture, such as soil, perlite or vermiculite. Add water to the incubation medium and squeeze it tightly in your hand to wring out all of the extra water so it is only damp, not soaked. Too much water can cause the eggs to become moldy.

    • 3

      Pack the incubation medium into a plastic food container about 1-2 inches deep, poking shallow holes with your finger in the incubation medium for each egg. This will keep the egg from rolling around and keep it moist. The size of the plastic food container you use depends on the size of the eggs and how many you have. Chameleons, for example, can lay up to 30 eggs but crested geckos will only lay two eggs at a time. Keep the eggs spaced apart by 2 inches on all sizes, so if one egg goes bad and starts to grow mold, it will not affect the surrounding eggs.

    • 4

      Place the egg in the incubation medium, lightly burying about two-thirds of the egg so the front of the egg is still exposed to the air. Do not rotate the eggs. Lizard eggs do not need to be turned, and should be placed facing up the same way they were found. Inside the egg is a tiny air bubble that is necessary for gases to exchange through the shell so the baby lizard can breathe. If the egg is turned, the bubble can move and the baby lizard could drown inside the egg.

    • 5

      Place the plastic container into the incubator. The incubators are available at specialty pet stores and feed stores. Set the incubator's temperature to the desired incubation warmth depending upon the species of lizard. See Resource No. 2 for specific breed temperature information. The humidity inside the incubator should be about 75 percent.

    • 6

      Open the incubator's lid once per week to get fresh air to the eggs and check the incubation medium for moisture. If it has become significantly drier, add a few drops of water to the medium, but don't drip water on the eggs.