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Blue-tailed skink eggs

I was out splitting an old chunk of decomposing maple and I found a nest of blue-tailed skink eggs,

I gathered them up with the sawdust they seemed to be in, but now I am looking for advice on what to do with them now.

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

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Permalink Reply by Lars 18 hours ago

Well as usual, when you post something, it means I'm going to learn something. I had no idea what a blue-tail skink is.

You obviouly are not going to detroy them, or you wouldn't be asking the question. So as I researched as to what a skink is, I see three immediate options...build a new nest for them in the wild, incubate them yourself, or give them up for adoption to someone else who will.

If you keep them, here are two options I pulled from the internet by asking "What to do with Blue-tail Skink eggs":

Option 1: Return Them to the Wild

If the eggs are still in a relatively safe location and just exposed (e.g., in leaf litter or under a board), put them back.

Maintain Orientation: Reptile eggs should not be turned. Try to keep the same side of the egg facing up as it was when you found it.
Hide Them: Cover the eggs lightly with damp soil and loose leaf litter to protect them from predators and keep the humidity stable. Do not pack the soil down.
Mother Skinks: Mother skinks often stay with their eggs until they hatch. By leaving them in the general area, she may return to care for them.

Option 2: Incubate Them Indoors

If the nest was completely destroyed or is in a high-traffic area, you can incubate them.

Container: Place the eggs in a small, ventilated container (like a Tupperware with pin-prick air holes).
Substrate: Add about 2 inches of lightly moistened topsoil, coco coir, or sphagnum moss. The substrate should be slightly damp (like a wrung-out sponge) but not soaking wet.
Keep Them Upright: Gently transfer the eggs without rotating them. Some hobbyists lightly mark the top of the egg with a pencil so they know which way is up.
Environment: Keep the container at a warm room temperature (around 70°F to 80°F) and out of direct sunlight. Skink eggs usually take about 40 to 60 days to hatch, depending on the temperature.

I'm rather confident you have or could have found this info yourself - so thanks for letting me share what I have learned so far. There is a whole other world out there by searching on Blue-tailed Skink. Who knew?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin D 8 hours ago

Many Thanks Lars.

I did find some of that information, but certainly not all of it.

Like I said, I was splitting up chunks of wood. A maple chunk was decomposing pretty significantly, and the BTS seems to have made her nest inside the piece of wood. When I split the wood, I happened to have split open the nest, spilling her and her eggs all over the area. She scuttled off, and I carefully scooped up the eggs and a fair bit of the ‘sawdust’ that seemed to have been in the nest the eggs. There was NO chance of know what side of the eggs were up. I have put the sawdust and the eggs in a small bucket and left it on the porch this morning. It will feel the warmth from the day, but stay out of the drying sun.

I saw one report where they put the eggs (and compost in that instance) into a glass canning jar and then buried the jar in the dirt. Being as I believe this nest was inside a chunk of wood, there is no chance of me trying to replicate that. I guess I can leave the eggs in the bucket and hope the little critters don’t climb out. Maybe I can rig up a make shift breathable lid or something. Hard to say when they will hatch - Could be today, could be about 43 days from now.

I saw pictures of new born BTS... They are cute little buggers. 😝

I guess almost anything new born is cute, right?

Thanks Again!