No, you should not leave leopard gecko eggs with the mother. Leopard geckos have no maternal instincts and will not care for their eggs. Worse, adult leopard geckos tend to eat their own offspring once they hatch. Removing the eggs and incubating them separately gives you the best chance of healthy hatchlings and lets you control the precise conditions the eggs need to develop.
Why Eggs Won’t Survive in the Enclosure
The core problem is a mismatch between what adult leopard geckos need and what their eggs need. A standard leopard gecko enclosure sits at 30% to 40% humidity during the day. Eggs require a consistent 70% to 80% humidity throughout their entire development period, which lasts anywhere from 30 to 105 days depending on temperature. Without that sustained moisture, the soft, leathery shells dry out and the embryos die.
Temperature control matters just as much. Eggs develop best at a steady 79 to 82°F, with 80°F being the most commonly recommended target. An adult enclosure has a warm side, a cool side, and temperature swings throughout the day and night. Eggs sitting on the enclosure floor experience those fluctuations, which can stall development or kill the embryo outright. In a dedicated incubator, you hold the temperature constant for weeks at a time.
Adult Geckos Eat Hatchlings
Even if the eggs somehow survived to hatching in the mother’s tank, the hatchlings would be in immediate danger. Adult leopard geckos regularly eat their own young. A hatchling emerges at roughly 28 by 15 millimeters, while the mother can be 7 to 10 inches long and weigh 45 to 100 grams. That size difference makes a newborn gecko look like prey, not offspring. There is no recognition, no protective behavior. The moment a baby hatches, it needs to be in its own enclosure, away from any adult.
How to Remove Eggs Safely
Once your gecko lays her eggs, you need to move them carefully. The single most important rule: do not change the orientation of the egg. Once an embryo starts forming, flipping or rotating the egg can cause the embryo to drown inside. A simple trick is to use a fine-point marker to put a small dot on the top of each egg as soon as you find it. That way, you always know which side was facing up, even if something bumps the egg later.
Gently lift the eggs and place them into your incubation container in the same position you found them. Work slowly. The eggs are soft and slightly sticky when first laid, so handle them with clean, dry fingers or a small spoon. If you discover the eggs hours or even a day after laying, the mark-and-transfer method still works, but the sooner you move them, the better.
Setting Up a Lay Box
Before your gecko is ready to lay, you should have a lay box inside her enclosure. This is where she’ll deposit the eggs, and it makes collection much easier than hunting around the tank. A simple plastic storage container with a lid works well because it holds humidity. Cut an entrance hole in the side large enough for her to climb through.
Fill the box with a moist substrate she can dig into. Sphagnum moss is the most popular choice, though coconut coir, vermiculite, or a mix of these all work. The substrate should feel damp when you squeeze it but not drip water. You’re aiming for 70% to 80% humidity inside the box. Check it every day or two and mist lightly if it starts drying out. Most females will use the lay box reliably once they discover it, which makes finding and collecting eggs straightforward.
Incubating the Eggs
Transfer the eggs into a small container filled with damp vermiculite or a similar medium, then place that container inside an incubator. Hold the temperature at 80°F for a mix of male and female hatchlings. Temperature actually determines sex in leopard geckos: eggs incubated around 80 to 82°F produce mostly females, while eggs kept at 90°F produce mostly males. At 85°F, you get a roughly even split.
Keep humidity in the incubation container at 70% to 80%, just like the lay box. Check the substrate moisture every few days and add a small amount of water to the vermiculite if it dries out, being careful not to drip water directly on the eggs. At 80°F, expect a long wait. Eggs at the lower end of the temperature range can take up to 105 days to hatch, while eggs at 90°F may hatch in as few as 30 days.
Resist the urge to open the incubator constantly. Every time you open it, you lose heat and humidity. A quick check every two to three days is enough. Healthy eggs will slowly swell and may develop visible veining if you candle them with a small flashlight. Eggs that collapse, turn yellow, or grow mold are likely infertile or no longer viable.
What to Do When Hatchlings Arrive
Once babies emerge, house them individually or in very small groups of similarly sized hatchlings. Even among babies, larger individuals can injure smaller ones or outcompete them for food. Each hatchling needs its own small, simple enclosure with a warm spot, a hide, and access to water. Do not place hatchlings back into the mother’s tank at any point. The size gap between a newborn and an adult leopard gecko remains dangerous for months.