A Lizard Laying an Egg - Orchid Board

Junebug · #1 07-10-2011, 02:45 PM

I was checking out my chids in the shadehouse this afternoon when I noticed something wriggling beneath the potting medium of a cattleya I'd recently repotted. At first I thought it was a snake but as I got closer I could see the tail end of a lizard. What struck me as odd, was that her head and front quarters were buried. The thought occurred to me that she might have just buried an egg, so I went to get the camera. The lizard was upright when I returned and she sat very still as I took a few photos of her. She sat motionless as I approached her backside and then all of a sudden an egg popped out. It happened so quick that it kind of startled me. Almost instantly she turned around, briefly checked on her egg, and then began shoving it beneath the medium, bottoms up again. I had never seen a lizard do that, and it was awesome

The lizard blended in with the medium pretty well so I hope you guys can see. She's checking on her egg in photo 4 and burying it in 5.

WhiteRabbit · #2 07-10-2011, 02:56 PM

wow! that's really cool! beautiful lizard too! wonder how long before there's a hatchling ...

cday2inflorida · #3 07-10-2011, 03:52 PM

June!! What great shots. It is baby lizard time at my house. I have both the brown anoles and the itty bitty green anoles all over the backyard.

Otis226 · #4 07-10-2011, 04:07 PM

Fantastic shots! Thanks for sharing. We have tons of anoles as well as skinks around the yard and occasionally in the lanai! I've seen really tiny babies but always wanted to find a nest/eggs, never have. So thanks again.
Tony

CTB · #5 07-10-2011, 04:13 PM

Very interesting, I have so many in the shadehouse I'll have to watch them more closely.

Daethen · #6 07-10-2011, 04:46 PM

We don't have lizards, but we do have tons of box turtles that use our yard as a laying ground. Once in a while we get to catch a peak at them emerging from the nests. Your pics are really cool.

Kelo · #7 07-10-2011, 05:39 PM

Cute! All I have is flies LOL.

Junebug · #8 07-10-2011, 06:08 PM

Thanks everyone.

I've run across solitary lizard eggs quite a few times in my 54 years, but this is the first and only time I've ever seen a female lizard prepping her nest and laying an egg. It's just one of those things humans normally don't see, sort of a "National Geographic" moment.

I have no idea how long the eggs incubate or if the mother revisits after laying them. Last weekend, when I was dividing and repotting I found one unbroken egg mixed in with the old broken down medium. Over the years my sightings have usually been in drawers or storage boxes in the garage or shed.

Junebug · #9 07-10-2011, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daethen

We don't have lizards, but we do have tons of box turtles that use our yard as a laying ground. Once in a while we get to catch a peak at them emerging from the nests. Your pics are really cool.

That's cool. We used to have a gopher turtle living in our back yard. He spent a great deal of time in his tunnel. He loved to eat bananas and we had him trained. We'd bang on the ground near his hole and he'd be out within a minute, waiting for his banana.

I went to the beach one night and quietly watched as a sea turtle dug her nest and layed her eggs. As I was about to leave I saw another large turtle at the shore line, heading back to sea. When I rubbed her shell you could see green sparkles from the phosphorous. It was surreal.

Daethen · #10 07-10-2011, 07:53 PM

Wow, that would have been an awsome experience. We can't train the box turtles, they just lay their eggs and disappear back to the river. The babies must fend for themselves. Sometimes they don't hatch until the next spring!