Yes, you can candle lizard eggs using a bright, pinpoint light in a dark room to check for fertility and development, looking for veins and movement, but you must be gentle and handle them minimally, especially if they aren't sticky like gecko eggs, as moving them too much can harm the embryo. Fertile eggs show developing veins and a dark, opaque mass, while infertile "slugs" remain clear.
How To Candle
Reptile eggs are soft, unlike bird eggs. If you can place them back in the ground where you found them, then do so, but try not to rotate them. If you cannot put them back in the ground, place them in a container in the same orientation that you found them.
How do you know if a lizard egg is alive? To find out if a lizard egg is alive, check for small holes or indentations.
Keep the eggs warm and protected if you cannot get an incubator.
If you can see blood vessels within the egg, there is a live embryo inside. Blood vessels in chicken eggs are normally observable within 7 to 10 days of an egg's incubation. By 18 days of incubation, the embryo takes up most of the egg and appears as a dark area within the egg.
Candling the eggs gently will not affect embryo development. Only remove the eggs from the incubator a few times during incubation. To maintain a safe internal temperature, only keep the eggs outside of the incubator for a few minutes.
A general rule, unwashed eggs will last around two weeks unrefrigerated and about three months or more in your refrigerator.
After about two months, these eggs hatch, resulting in the many baby western fence lizards we can observe in late June and July. Western fence lizard females can lay up to three clutches of eggs per year.
Be patient: Lizard eggs take time to hatch. Be patient and allow the natural process to unfold. Avoid moving or touching the eggs, as this can cause harm to the developing embryos.
Refrigerators and/or freezers are insulated very well, usually have shelves, and can make excellent incubators.
Do not candle between 11 and 14 days of incubation, as it interrupts the movement of the embryo to the length axis of the egg. When candling on day 9 or 10, empty places on the setter tray should be filled up by moving the remaining eggs backwards to create complete rows, leaving the first rows empty.
Early deaths: The embryo has developed for several days and then died. Candling will reveal a small dark area and disrupted blood vessels. Often deteriorating blood vessels will appear as a dark ring around the egg. Discard.
To prevent problems with bacteria, we refrigerate our eggs after they are processed. But outside the U.S., most countries leave that protective cuticle intact. They also employ other methods to ward against salmonella, like vaccinating hens and packing and selling eggs near where they are laid.
To tell if an egg is bad, use the float test: fresh eggs sink and lie flat, older ones stand on end (still good for boiling), but floating eggs are bad and should be discarded. The most accurate method is to crack it into a separate bowl: a bad egg will have an unpleasant, sulfurous smell or a discolored, watery, or spreading white.
If fertile eggs reach temperatures above 72°F, embryos will begin to develop abnormally, weaken, and die. Embryos stored below 46°F also have high embryo mortality.
Common Mistakes In Candle Making And How To Avoid Them
Check for veins and a reddish coloring.
Look for distinct veins and a warm reddish coloring to the egg, especially on day 6 or more of incubation. This is a sign that the embryo is living and developing.
If there are dead nestlings or unhatched eggs in an “active” nest (one that also contains living eggs or young) then it's best to leave them in the nest until the other young fledge to reduce disturbance.
Place the narrow end of the egg gently against the light. Look for signs of development: Infertile egg: Clear inside, no veins or dark spots. Fertile egg: Dark spot (embryo) with visible red veins.