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A first for
Clarence Valley WIRES Reptile Team.
Story - David Cole. Photos – Stuart Dart
Last season, not only did we rescue, relocate & care for our
scaly friends, we have taken our care level to the next step
– the successful incubation of reptile eggs. This has been
done in the past by breeders, but for us it was a very
exciting time. During the breeding season we sometimes have
female Bearded Dragons that unfortunately become road
victims & some of these are gravid with many eggs. With the
combination of some great minds we built our own incubator.
Some models can cost thousands of dollars.
Ours however cost just $50. Our first admission was a clutch
of 19 Beardy eggs. Sadly the mother died of head injuries
but not before aborting the eggs on the floors of the lady’s
car. The eggs were placed onto a mixture of vermiculite &
water then into the incubator. 68 days later the hatchlings
began to emerge on Christmas day – proof our incubator
works. All 19 eggs hatched. The hatchlings weighed on
average 2.5gms & were 45mm long.
Suitable locations were found & all the hatchlings were
released into the wild. |
