How do i know if my western fence lizards eggs are fertile or not?

Question

How do i know if my western fence lizards eggs are fertile or not?

Answer 1

Well, to state the obvious - first - she has to have been with a male!

Beyond that, if you have turned the eggs - you have most likely already killed the embryos.  If you haven't (and they weren't laid in water), mark the top of each with a Sharpie, being careful not to turn/rotate it.  If the eggs were laid in water, the embryos drowned (unless you removed them the moment she laid them).

You will have to google 'incubating lizard eggs,' and go from there immediately, to getting them on the heat and in the humidity they need for developing (this will be money for accurate meters for temp. and humidity, also substrate for hatching, and the incubator itself).  And I don't mean to lecture, but all this should have been done before the animal was ever bred (if she was).

To determine, once you get them in the incubator and are providing what they need, if they are fertile, just wait a few days to let development start.  Use a very intense LED pencil flashlight, or an egg candling light (be sure what you use doesn't produce damaging heat).  Holding the egg without turning it, keeping the black mark up, gently in your finger tips, place the light below the egg and against it.  It will glow a pinkish color, if there is life developing in it.  It will be clear, if not.  Also, if the eggs aren't fertile, they will colapse/cave in.  Healthy viable eggs are round and plump.  You can google 'candling lizard eggs' for photos.

Not to mention all that expense: are you prepared to deal with the babies as they hatch.  Some emerging young eat the day of/next day after hatching, while others wait until a first shed, before beginning to eat.  Have you done your research, and determined the needs of the hatchlings?

Hatchlings are voracious and grow quickly.  Stronger/larger siblings will eat weaker/smaller.  It's best to keep only 1-3 hatchlings of the same size per container, and be sure they are well fed.  You will need many crickets, and be sure they are properly gut loaded before being fed to the hatchlings.

If you manage to hatch them out, and get them growing - then you'll need housing for all of them.  Once they get some size and are stable eaters, it will be time for them to go to their new homes (providing you have lined up owners for the babies when the time arrives).

I hope this has been helpful.