Cadeby Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Today, whilst mixing chaux, we discovered 16 small white eggs, oval shaped, about 2cm long, buried 3 inches below the surface in a large pile of sand. Initially I assumed they must be snake eggs, and since I know that the viper is a live-bearer, I wondered if they could be grass snakes eggs ? However, they are not leathery - they have a hardish shell, approaching that of a normal birds egg ? We've re-buried them and will keep an eye out to see if anything emerges. Surely a pile of manure / compost would be a better incubation spot than sand ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Safe to assume that they are lizards eggs, sand isn't the place for snakes to lay their eggs, most of those that lay eggs, as you say, prefer somewhere like a compost heap, other types of rotting vegetation or under an old tree stump, damp and protected.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBC Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Blimey, that must be painful for the lizards, 2cm would be about 1/3 the length of the ones in our garden .....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I assumed that it was probably "wall lizards" although it doesn't really matter, they grow up to 20cm, 10 times the size of these eggs, the eggs aren't really that size when produced, they are soft and expand a little. If you give them a gentle squeeze, GENTLE I said, you will find that they remain somewhat soft and flexible. I think the lizards that you are seeing that are 6cm are the young from last year.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadeby Posted June 25, 2006 Author Share Posted June 25, 2006 We couldn't resist and have opened one - we chose the hardest one which looked as if it had already dried out too much - the majority of the remainder are still leathery. Inside was a transluscent embryo about 1cm long with a large head, 2 obvious eyes on the top of the head and a slim tapering body. There were no apparent legs ( ie. it resembled a snake ) but it could be that the legs just haven't begun to develop yet.The eggs that were buried deeper are moister and still leathery so we are hoping for baby ....."somethings"....... ( I'm a marine biologist so this terrestrial stuff is beyond me !!!! ) Helen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 When flattening and grass-seeding our lawn we found many lizard eggs we put them in a bucket of earth at an angle with a piece of cloth on the top. They all hatched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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